Through Thick and Thin
by Timore Nocturnus Caelum
Summary: Post-movie. After being downed by lightning, Hiccup and Toothless gets found by a Roman general. Waking up in Rome, Hiccup finds that Toothless is missing. How far would he go to save his companion? Would Toothless survive?
1. Prologue: Rumors

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own 'How To Train Your Dragon' nor do I own any of its characters. However, I do own the OCs that will be appearing in this piece of work, so please do not use them without my permission. Thank you very much.

Hi guys! Welcome back! This is a new story and I do not know if it would work out. I got this idea while I was taking the bus on the way home. I started work on it as soon as possible. However, you should not expect the next chapter to be up anytime soon.

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**Important Notice: I do notice that my descriptions of the two characters (OCs) in this chapter sounds like Mary Sue-_ing _or rather Gary Stu-_ing_. They are NOT Mary Sue (Gary Stu). I do not plan on making them immortal or anything that defies the laws of physics, or science for that matter. And also, a lot about them will be revealed in later chapters. Do not worry. They will not be like all-powerful and stuff. They are human. They have feelings. They can be scared. They are mortal. Period.**

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As for this story, it takes place after the movie. Probably about seven to eight months after the battle with the Green (or Red) Death. Rumors of the Berklanders living in harmony with the dragons have spread to as far as the Roman empire. I have taken the liberty to shift the Roman empire a few hundred years into the future in order to make this work. So, basically, in my story the Roman empire is the superpower here. The Vikings protect the Romans from the dragons and the Romans pay them money in exchange. But, after hearing the rumors, the bond of trust between the Vikings and the Romans have been severely weakened. The Romans sent scouts to search the area for suspicious activities, and the Vikings grew more paranoid of the Romans, especially Stoick. We won't be seeing Hiccup or Toothless in this chapter but we will in the future chapters.

Anyways, let's get on with the story.

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Chapter One/Prologue: Rumors

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It was a cold and dark night on the streets of Rome. A young man strode down a dark and deserted alleyway, towards an old and dilapidated wooden warehouse that stood in the middle of nowhere. The wooden warehouse was made out of wood, now greyed from age and neglect, it looked as if it was fit to collapse any moment. No one had known the reason behind its construction, and very few people had ever ventured close to it before. The repairmen daren't come in contact with the structure, and therefore it was left there, forgotten through the ages. However, it had become a popular meeting zone for this man… and another man.

The wooden door creaked on its hinges as the man pushed it open. The man was not very old, probably only in his early thirties. He had green eyes and a rather handsome hair that was the shade of auburn. He donned an off-white toga with a purple border. Always a fair magistrate, Aegidius Maximus The Fourth was not a man to be trifled with. Commanding a high position in the Roman court, he was one of the most famous magistrates in the history of Rome due to the fact that he had solved hundreds of puzzling murder cases during his career. As soon as he stepped into the warehouse, he was met by the smell of decaying wood; an obvious trait of an old warehouse. Then he saw it; the warm, soft glow of fire. Proceeding towards the source of the fire, which was a small hearth, he suddenly heard movement behind him. He froze.

"_Anybody there?_" he asked in a quavering voice.

The shadows continued to yield its secrets. Shrugging to himself, Aegidius continued on his way to the hearth. The only thing missing from the scene was the man he was supposed to meet. The man furrowed his eyebrows. Surely his friend could not have forgotten?

Aegidius decided to stay by the fire and wait for the man to arrive. He stoked the fire with a metal pole that he found lying on the ground. Scanning the warehouse, he saw that it had been emptier than when his last visit. That meant that someone had come in before he did; the fire was proof of that. Could that explain the apparent lack of his friend's presence? Perhaps someone, an intruder, had come into the warehouse and kidnapped his friend? He could not rule that out. However, before he could invent some new theories on his buddy's disappearance.

Something heavy slammed into the man. He groaned as the force catapulted him into the air, depositing him beside a huge wooden crate. He was pretty thankful that his head did not come in contact with the crate. Before he had the time to recover from this surprise ambush, a huge shadow blocked out the light from the fire. Aegidius felt something sharp press against his throat. He, however, did not break down and start begging for mercy. No, Aegidius was well known for keeping calm even under pressurising situations. He faced his attacker. The impostor had two cold, blue eyes that had barely any emotion in them. He spoke first.

"_What's the password?_" He hissed out in Latin.

Aegidius smiled and spoke.

"_Janus_."

Even after Aegidius had given the password, Quintus pressed his sword even harder into Aegldius's throat. He flinched before speaking.

"_You can lower your sword, Quintus. Surely you would have figured out who I am by now._"

Quintus surveyed Aegidius for a little while more, before he relaxed and lifted his sword, returning it into its place in the sword sheath. Quintus offered his hand and helped the shorter man up.

"_I had to check. Just in case you are an impostor, you know._" Quintus stated.

"_I should have been the one to check. I am the one who is bringing news, and I hope that it would not reach the ears of the wrong people._"

They settled down beside the fire. Quintus stared at the fire, his eyes looking creepier than they had before. The reflection of the fire against those blue eyes made it look as if they were burning with some sort of cold fury. Aegidius then turned his gaze upon the taller man. Quintus Aemilianus Agricola was a proud and experienced Roman general. He wore a purple toga with gold embroidery, a clear sign that he had won many battles before. Quintus was in his early fifties, yet he was very fit. Vigilance had always been his top priority, therefore explaining his habit of greeting his visitors by pouncing on them and determining if they were a threat or not before letting them pass. He was also well-known for his cruelty towards his enemies. Whatever unspeakable acts of violence that Quintus had committed, only he and Aegidius knew.

"_So, what news do you bring, my friend?_"

The said Roman twirled his hair in uneasiness, as if he were debating whether he should tell the truth or not. Then he took in a deep breath and spoke.

"_My friend. I've heard some disturbing rumours about the Vikings to the North._"

Quintus arched his eyebrows, "_What sort of disturbing news?_"

Aegidius looked taken aback for a second, then he continued, "_General, are you sure you want to know?_"

"_Shoot_."

The young Roman magistrate stood up and started pacing around the fire, his eyebrows furrowed. He wore a worried look on his face. Clearly something about the rumours was very disturbing indeed. The Roman magistrate had never become worried about rumours. He had once said that rumours where false until proven true, and that they should not believe in such things. After a long moment of silence, the magistrate stopped pacing and looked into Quintus' eyes.

"_I've heard rumours…_" he paused, and continued a short while later. "_… that the Vikings are training dragons and basically living in harmony with those beasts. I fear that they might go on a conquest for territorial expansion and invade our country._" Aegidius finished, looking very worried indeed. Silence settled over the two Romans as the magistrate let the meaning of the sentence sink in.

It was a well-known fact that dragons have been plaguing the islands to the far north for centuries. The Vikings have been waging wars against those monsters in utter futility. Vikings have been protecting the countries to the south from the dragons.

Quintus contemplated the information. Could the rumours be true? Dragons and Vikings living in harmony? Then, he let out a laugh.

"_You really think that the rumours are real? I can bet that it was just some lie!_"

"_I beg to differ, Quintus._"

Said general stopped laughing. His expressions turned serious and he said, "_What evidence do you have to support this ridiculous claim?_"

The magistrate looked at the general nervously, their eyes locked.

"_One of our scouts have spotted a Night Fury with a boy riding on it. They zoomed past the ship and disappeared into the clouds. That's not all. We have solid evidence from traders that dragons now inhabit the island of Berk._"

That was disturbing news indeed. However, Quintus was still in doubt.

"_Eyewitness accounts are unreliable. I have been in the military long enough to know that. The real enemy could be just dropping false information and then when you least expect it, they strike_."

"_True. It could have been false. But come to think of it, there could still be a possibility that the Vikings are indeed living in harmony with the dragons._"

Quintus furrowed his eyebrows. Then, after a minute of silence, he finally spoke.

"_What do you want me to do, Aegidius?_"

Said magistrate considered the options that were available. Going to war with the Vikings right now with little information on how they were going about their lives right now proved to be a bad idea. The magistrate sighed and sat down beside his old friend.

"_Have you decided on the appropriate course of action?_"

Aegidius nodded his head and said, "_But it'll be dangerous._"

Quintus scoffed at the word 'dangerous'. He was a general, and there was no such word as dangerous in his dictionary.

"_Pah. Dangerous? A true soldier at heart will be willing to take any risks_."

The magistrate nodded his head. "_You were ever the brave one, Quintus. Are you sure you want to do this? You might lose your life in the process._"

"_Whatever you say, friend._"

Taking a deep breath, he assigned a mission to the general.

"_I would like you to scout the area around the Gateway To Hell_."

As brave as he was, Quintus knew that the Gateway To Hell, otherwise known as _Porta Infernus_, was an extremely treacherous place. The area was foggy all year round and was filled with jagged granite rocks. Even the most experienced Roman sailors have crashed their boat there and died or got lost in the intricate geographical maze of granite pillars. The general knew that he would have little chance of surviving in there, but took up the assignment anyway.

"_Yes. I will go._" He said with finality.

Aegidius looked at Quintus. He then took the general's hand and shook it.

"_Its decided then._"

"_Yes._"

"_I'll go prepare the ships, ready the supplies, and assemble your crew by tomorrow. Then, you'll set sail._"

As they looked at each other, a loud crash made the both of them look up. General Quintus stood up immediately, sword unsheathed. Seeing the shadow that was rushing for the exit, he threw his sword in that direction. If there was one thing about general Quintus that was more terrifying than his cruel nature was that he never, never, misses. The sword impaled itself into the shin of the impostor. He let out a yelp of pain before collapsing in a heap in front of the wooden door. Both of the Romans made their way to the body of the intruder.

"_Do you think that he is a Northerner?_" enquired the magistrate. Since the general had met almost all sorts of people during his travels, battles, torture sessions and his long life, he would be able to recognise a person's nationality.

"_Yes, he is one. A Viking to be more specific_." The general spat out the word 'Viking' with great distaste.

"_Do you think that he had overheard everything?_"

"_Not if he speaks Latin._"

Both of them looked down at the Viking, who was moaning in pain. General Quintus grabbed the Viking and lifted the huge man up with one hand. The Roman general might have been old, but he was also very strong.

"_Tell me, did you overhear everything?_" Quintus spat, venom dripping from his words.

The Viking looked at him with his brown eyes. A smile spread across his face and he spoke, "Já, ég gerði."

"_This person obviously doesn't know how to speak Latin. Which means that he doesn't understand our little conversation._"

The Viking chuckled, taking the two Romans by surprise. Red blood still gushed from his sword wounds, but he seemed to be able to tolerate the pain.

"_No, you fools. I do know how to speak Latin._"

The Roman general dropped the Viking onto the ground. He moaned as he made contact, but quickly regained his composure. The Roman general was furious, a sure sign that something bad was about to happen. If there was one thing that people should learn is that they should never get on the bad side of General Quintus.

"_How much did you hear?_" the general demanded.

"_All of it._"

Frustration turned into anger. Anger transformed into blind rage; blind rage developed into cold fury and soon the general found himself punching the Viking in his face causing the man to groan in pain and he collapsed on the ground once again.

"_Who do you work for, Viking? TELL ME!_"

Chuckling, the Viking turned his head slowly and faced the two Romans.

"_I report to Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe._"

The general's face whitened. Forcing himself to remain cool, he grabbed the Viking once again by his collar and spoke, this time in a softer and much more calm voice.

"_What tribe?_"

The Viking broke out in laughter again.

"_What tribe, you ask. Well, good luck general. You'll have to kill me to get the answer._"

"_Oh, I will slaughter you anyway. But first, I'll have you tell me the truth. I repeat, for the last time: what tribe?_"

The Viking did not answer immediately. Then, he spoke, "_Well, the Hairy Hooligans of course. I am their spy. Of what use would this information be? We are going to attack you with dragons and Rome will be history!_"

He then laughed as if there were no tomorrow. The general froze. So the Northerners have been planning on an attack. And with dragons too. The rumours have been true then. He exchanged glances with Aegidius and then turned back to face the Viking, who was still laughing. A cruel smile spread across Quintus's face.

"_Yes, laugh all you want, Viking. Let's see just who'll be laughing in the end._"

He extracted the sword from the Viking's shin and swung it directly at the man's neck, staining the walls with a crimson red liquid. The laughter died almost instantly as the man's head rolled on the ground, his body collapsing in a heap. Aegidius cringed at the sight. The Roman general then sheathed his sword and pretended that nothing had happened.

"_Would you like to get someone to clean up this mess?_" the general faked an innocent tone. Aegidius' face paled.

"_You… you want me to clean this up?_" he said in a quavering voice.

Quintus threw back his head and roared in laughter. The very cruelness of it chilled the magistrate to his bones. Quintus then slammed the warehouse entrance door behind him, causing Aegidius to wince. The magistrate did not relax until the laughters were lost in the distance, along with the demon.

A streak of lightning flashed across the sky and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third awoke in his bed, surrounded by a pool of cold sweat, two thousand kilometres away.

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End of Prologue.

That's it for the prologue. Tell me how I did. Should I continue with this story? Please tell me what you think about it. If you liked the story and want me to continue, leave a review. If you detested the story, leave a review. Suggestions are welcome.

Read & Review!

Oh, and addressing the Mary Sue (Gary Stu) note, Quintus is just a highly-trained general who excelled at marksmanship, that is why he could aim so well. Aegidius is just good at problem solving. I highly doubt that those two traits would be consequential to the story. And I am not going to do many of these chapters focusing only on them. There will be some, but not too excessive.

:)


	2. At The Break of Dawn

**Disclaimer: **I do not claim ownership of 'How To Train Your Dragon'. The movie belongs to Dreamworks while the books belong to Cressida Cowell.

Hi guys! Thank you all for your reviews! So here's another chapter for you. Not much in here except for some catching up with the current affairs on Berk.

Well, hope you don't get bored.

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Chapter Two: At The Break of Dawn

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_Three months later..._

Silence settled over the village of Berk. It was nighttime and the weather was clear, exposing countless of stars that dotted the night sky. The hustle and bustle of daytime Berk was long over, due to the fact that the traders have long since sailed away from the port, and the Vikings have retreated to the comfort of their own homes, along with their dragons.

That was one of the drastic changes that have occurred on this island.

The village was just starting to get used to the dragons. Having fought them for such a long time and believing that they were evil, it was a very tough change. Especially when the people are a bunch of stubborn meatheads that normally refuses to change anything. In the beginning, it was tough. However, over the months, along with Hiccup's and Stoick's insistence, the Vikings of the island had no choice but to accept the dragons as their new neighbours. Of course, there were some people who did not want to embrace the change and chose to hurt the dragons instead. Soon, an anti-dragon protest group emerged, earning Stoick's attention. He had to impose a new law that forbade anyone to harm the dragons, with exile as a punishment. Eventually the enmity between the humans and the dragons died out.

Berk was still silent. Except for the occasional crowing of crows and the gruntings of various dragons throughout the village. The tranquility could have been maintained for the rest of the night. That is, until a scream pierced the night.

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Hiccup's breathing came in quick, sharp intakes. His heart was pounding furiously and beads of sweat was rolling down his face, collecting at the bottom of his chin and finally dropping with shallow and barely audible thuds on the bed. The young Viking had a nightmare once again. A frequent occurrence ever since the battle with the Red Death.

The nightmares always started with him and Toothless flying over the sea, and both of them were enjoying themselves very much. Then, a storm always interferes with the dream. That would almost always be followed by a bolt of lightning that would strike the metallic connections that were present on the saddle. They would both be sent plummeting to the ground, which was hundreds of feet below them. Somehow, before they made contact with the ground, the scene would dissolve and transform into something else. Sometimes it would be the re-enactment of the scene where Hiccup fell into the explosion caused by the Green Death, other times it would be seeing Toothless lying by his side on the ground, suffering from fatal injuries and surrounded by a pool of his own blood.

The worst part was, Hiccup could do nothing to help his dragon friend.

He was only able to watch by the sidelines. To watch his friend get tortured by masked individuals. The masked people wielded all sorts of weapons, raging from swords to evil-looking sickles. Each time the weapons buried themselves into the dragon's hide, Hiccup screamed. He cried, he wept. He even tried to stretch out his hands in a desperate attempt to get to the masked individuals, to grab their them, to stop them from torturing Toothless any further.

The dreams would normally end here, with Hiccup sitting straight up in his bed and surrounded by a pool of sweat.

That was exactly what happened moments ago.

One moment, he was seeing Toothless being struck by a hammer and the dragon roared in agony, as if he were asking for Hiccup's help. Then, the next moment as he reached out his arms, he found himself sitting on his own bed, drenched in his own sweat and staring out of the window.

Looking to his left, he saw the black dragon curled up into a ball, sleeping peacefully. Hiccup had to reach out his hand to touch Toothless' snout to determine the dragon's existence. As he did so, he found that his left leg was not responding. Of course, it had been amputated. Hiccup would miss his good old leg dearly. In its place was a rather odd metallic leg with a suspension system. The artificial leg was attached to Hiccup's real leg, and it was connected through a system of buckles. At first, the shock of losing his leg was very great. Hiccup nearly cried when he woke up from his coma. His first reaction had been "What?", then it changed to "M… my leg."

However, he decided that there would be no point in crying over spilt milk. He had deserved this. He was the reason Toothless had lost his tail fin. Now they were equal. They were both cripples.

But, if they were united. It was a different story indeed. Together, the duo were able to take flight.

Slowly, over the months, the shock of being an amputee wore off. Granted, he wasn't as agile or as fast with his legs as of late. Hindered by the loss of his leg, he wasn't able to run with Toothless anymore. However, he was still able to operate the artificial tail fin, thanks to several modifications he had made.

As his father had put it, "_With great victory, comes great sacrifice._"

There certainly had been a great victory. The Red Death had been defeated, and the dragons have been freed from slavery. For the first time since Berk was founded, the Vikings coexisted with the dragon in harmony. No wars, no raids.

The price to pay was the loss of a young boy's leg.

Sometimes Hiccup was angry at his father for not listening to him when the situation could have been salvaged. But, alas, that was not the case. Stoick the Vast had decided to carry on with his "Grand Plan" and assaulted the Dragons' Nest with an army of a thousand strong… and Toothless, chained up and left to die on a burning ship.

If only Stoick had given the boy's opinion a damn, then his son would not have to suffer the consequences. Only after the battle did Stoick realise that he had failed his son.

Luckily for him, Hiccup was a forgiving person. He rarely held a grudge… unless the person really deserves it.

The boy rolled to the edge of his bed and touched Toothless' snout. The dragon grunted. However, that was all Hiccup needed. He just wanted to know that his companion was still alive, still breathing, still shooting innocent and cute looks.

_Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Frantic and heavy footsteps emanated from outside the door to Hiccup's room. The boy cringed as he heard the sound. It could only mean that his father was hurrying up the stairs towards his son's room. The door flew open and in came Stoick, wearing a worried look on his face. Toothless was taken by surprise and he shot right up, snarling. Then he saw Stoick and relaxed a little.

"Hiccup!" he exclaimed involuntarily. His green eyes scanned the room before falling upon Hiccup's face. It was pale, like he was sick or something.

"Hiccup, what happened? I thought I heard you screaming. Nightmares again?"

Stoick had known about the Nightmares all along. Hiccup had told him about them one night. At first, Stoick thought nothing about it. However, the nightmares increased in frequency, and so did Stoick's level of worry.

He had consulted the healers about it, but they weren't of much help. Out of desperation, Stoick brought Hiccup to see Gothi, the village elder. That, unfortunately, was also in fruition. They still could not find the cause of these nightmares.

After a while, Hiccup started to grow cold to every one in the village, and would often try avoid taking about The Accident. He even refused to talk to his own father. Becoming short-tempered and snappy at times, he rarely joked nowadays.

"Outta my way, ya beast."

Striding over to Hiccup's bedside, Stoick knelt down on his knees and supported the boy's head with his huge arms. He looked at his son, eyes full of worry and concern. Toothless nudged the boy's head with his snout, albeit gently.

"Son, are you alright?" he spoke with in a tone that failed to hide his fear.

Hiccup tried to brush aside Stoick's arms but failed, then he said in an irritated tone, "I'm fine, Dad."

"I am just worried, son."

"Yeah, whatever."

Pulling the bed sheet over his body, Hiccup rolled over such that his back was facing his father. He, however, wasn't sleeping. In fact, the boy did not want to go back to sleep, for that would mean another few hours of nightmares, and he did not want to experience that. Finally, he heard Stoick sighing and walking out of his room through the door.

_Mrrrp…_

Turning around, he saw that Toothless was staring at him through those huge, expressive eyes. Hiccup could not help but smile at the innocent look.

"I'm so glad I have you, Toothless."

_

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Two hours later…_

"WHAT!"

A certain atmosphere of tension had settled over the Vikings that were gathered in the chamber that was positioned just off the Meade hall. There could not have been more then ten of them squeezed into the room. They were mostly Vikings approaching their forties, with a muscular build and massive arms. However, all of them flinched when Stoick roared out in anger.

"How could this happen?" he bellowed.

No one seemed eager to answer that question. There was silence until a Viking stepped out of the group. He had blue eyes and blonde hair, and was rather plump for a Viking. His wooden stump of a leg made a clunking noise as he walked.

"No idea. I just heard from the messenger that Brynjar got killed by the Romans." Gobber the Belch announced.

Stoick's threshold for rage had reached its limit. He could have brought down the entire Meade hall with that sort of fury but forced himself to keep down his anger.

_Stay calm. Getting angry isn't going to help._

Sighing, the chieftain sat down in the wooden stool, his weight causing it to creak. Silence hung in the air for a good few minutes before the red-bearded man spoke.

"He was a good spy." he began.

For the past few months, Stoick have had an uneasy feeling about the Romans. They had depended on the Romans for their money, in other words, protection fees. It was a mutual relationship. The Vikings would protect the Empire of Rome from the dragons and in exchange for that, the Romans would give them money. Speaking of which, it was a _very_ large sum of money.

However, now that the dragon problems have been quelled, there was no longer a need for the Vikings to protect the Romans from attacks anymore. The chieftain initially thought that it was excellent. The Romans would continue paying them the protection fees for a protection that wasn't even necessary. Good. That was until the rumors started spreading. Somehow, news leaked out that the village of Berk was living in harmony with the beasts.

Stoick was aware that the rumors have spread as far as the capital of Rome, and even beyond. When that happened, the Romans started to get more and more suspicious of the Vikings. The last time the Romans had delivered the protection fees, which was in the dead of night seven months ago, they almost had a bloody exchange.

That night had been a very dark one. The sky was overcast and as a result, no stars were visible. Stoick and his trusted lieutenants were gathered at the dock, waiting for a wooden ship to arrive, delivering its expected payload of money. The Vikings have hidden the dragons and told every family to keep their pets quiet. This was the first time the Romans were coming to Berk that was inhabited by dragons, and he did not want to attract too much attention.

He watched as a silhouette of a ship made itself known on the horizon. It would not be too long before the ship would arrive at the docks. He signalled for Friðrik to come forth as Friðrik was the only person present that could speak Latin.

The ship stopped by the jetty and someone onboard threw a rope that landed on the wooden planks with a soft thud. Rushing over to pull the rope, Stoick tied it to a wooden pole and stood back, straightening his beard to make himself look presentable.

Two men emerged from the cabin of the boat and stepped up to the jetty, with a look of disdain on their face. They were followed by two other men who were carrying sacks that looked like they contained gold. The two men in the front, both dressed in a bleached toga, greeted them, albeit rather unwillingly and Stoick sent Friðrik to converse with them.

"_We're here to deliver the payment._" said the man standing on the right.

"_How much?_" enquired the Viking.

"_300 aureus, 20 denarii, 3 sestertii and 70 dupondii._" the Roman said. Friðrik looked taken aback and stared at the man for a few moments before continuing.

"_But that's one-third the usual amount!_" Friðrik exclaimed. The Roman simply laughed. His partner spoke for him.

"_We've got orders from our superiors that we aren't supposed to give you so much money. He suspects that something fishy is going on._"

"_Who's your superior, then?_"

"_We do not speak about him very often. He prefers to operate in secrecy. Paranoid, that one._"

And with that, they turned their backs against the two very confused Vikings and promptly left for the boat, their togas billowing in the wind.

Friðrik had told Stoick all about the conversation he had with the Romans. That unnerved the chief. Someone was plotting against them. But who? Even the two Romans had refused to speak of him. Who could have held such a high position in the Roman court? The Viking shuddered at the thought of the person being the Roman emperor. Hence, he had enlisted the help of a fellow Viking to spy on the Romans.

The spy, Brynjar, had provided him with valuable information. He had traced the source of the rumors to a fishing village not far off the city of Athena, and had calculated that the rumors would probably reach the Roman Imperial Court not long after. The last time he had communicated with Stoick through messenger pigeons, he had managed to pinpoint a Roman magistrate who had heard of the rumor. After that first stalk though, the magistrate grew more paranoid of his surroundings and became cynical, according to Brynjar. After that, he was never heard of again.

"So what do we do now? With our spy lost." a Viking asked, shaking Stoick out of his reverie. The chief stood up from his chair, walking around the chamber and stroking his chin, thinking of the appropriate course of action. He had a few choices. He could send another spy, or he could let the matter rest. The first one seemed risky, as the cover of the first spy had been so easily broken. Also, he could not afford to lose another Viking. Fortunately, a Viking stepped up and gave Stoick a suggestion of what he should do, before the chief's head exploded.

"Perhaps we should just leave matters as it is." he said. Another man looked absolutely appalled.

"What? You mean do nothing?" he cut in.

"Yes."

"But… but this is serious. If the Roman emperor finds out about this, this could very well be the end of Berk."

"I think that its best to wait. Let it… unfold. Then, we come up with the appropriate course of action."

A murmur of approval passed through the group of Vikings, even Stoick felt so.

"So it is agreed?"

The Vikings passed a unanimous decision to stick to the plan. The chief gave a slight nod before dismissing the crowd of Vikings. Sighing, he regained his seat on the stool once again, so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't even realise that Gobber was standing next to him.

"Are yeh alright?" he asked, concerned.

Stoick did not known if he should tell Gobber the truth about Hiccup's mental health or not, but he finally decided against it.

"I'm fine." he lied.

However, he was far from fine. Very far away from it indeed.

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End of chapter two.

All right guys, the part where Hiccup and Toothless get struck by lightning would be coming up soon. This chapter is a little short but future chapters would be, hopefully, longer.

Oh and the aureus, denarius, sestertius and dupondius are part of the Roman currency. The simplest unit of Roman currency would be the as. 1 aureus would be equivalent to 400 asses (plural of as), 200 dupondii, 100 sestertius or 25 denarii. 1 denarius would be equal to one-twenty fifth of an aureus, 4 sestertii, 8 dupondii or 16 asses. 1 sestertius = 4 asses or 2 dupondii. 1 dupondius would be identical to 2 asses. It is not that hard to remember ;)

Stay tuned and leave a review!


	3. Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer: **I do not, in any way, be it electronic or physical, own 'How To Train Your Dragon'. Nuff said.

Hi guys! Welcome back! Sorry for the rather long update. So here's chapter 3.

Some notes though, this chapter deals with setting the scene for future chapters. Nothing too interesting in here, except for some Toothless/Stoick, Hiccup/Stoick, Hiccup/Astrid, Hiccup/Toothless moments. There will be NO slash. Just so you know. That is also why this fic is rated 'T' instead of 'M'.

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Chapter Three: Calm Before the Storm

* * *

_Morning_

The morning arrived quickly. Soon, the first rays of sunlight broke through the darkness of the night, casting a reddish glow on the underside of the clouds. Slowly but surely, the top of the sun emerged from the horizon. As time progressed, more of the sun became visible, bathing the other half of the Earth with an endless stream of photons while the other side of the Earth is being plunged into darkness. The roosters cuckooed, signalling the start of a new day. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the village of Berk awoke to a cool morning, yawning in the process. Among the inhabitants were the dragons. And they were a rather noisy lot, especially during the day.

"Quiet down, Stormfly!" Astrid hollered.

Astrid's Nadder was making a heck lot of noise as she waded through the wooden house, which had been a frequent occurrence considering the weight of the dragon. If the dragon wasn't making so much noise or running around the house, she would be lying in a corner, preening herself. That was one of the reasons why Astrid's house was the cleanest after the dragons moved in. There wasn't so much a speck of dust in there. And the girl was rather thankful for that. Because it meant that she would not have to do much cleaning up, which can be a hassle if your dragon was scampering about the house, looking for food and playing with you. The situation in Hiccup's house was, however, very much different from that of his girlfriend's.

"_Oh, come on,_ Toothless." Hiccup pleaded.

Said dragon was tracking mud into the house once again. He had a mischievous look plastered on his face. Obviously the dragon had been rolling in the mud.

"Damn it!" Hiccup swore under his breath. He knew that he would be in deep trouble if his father had found out about this. Ever since Toothless had moved in, the house was in serious need of attention, at least where hygiene issues were concerned. There was one time where Toothless had brought in a carcass of a sheep and Stoick had banished him from the house for a week. The chief, however, was forced to bring the dragon back into the house after a few hours due to the fact that the Night Fury had torched an entire patch of grass. That incident had created a firestorm in which two people were injured and three buildings were completely incinerated. Hiccup had to plead with his father in order to persuade him to let Toothless stay, because the chief was planning on banishing Toothless to another island.

"Toothless! Get out of the house before dad comes back!"

The dragon defied the order and continued to trot into the house, leaving mud prints in his wake. He then settled down besides Hiccup's bed, letting out a contented purr. His rider cursed and groaned inwardly. If his father knew, things would turn ugly. He could almost picture that situation in his head.

Since persuasion had failed to get the dragon out, the boy tried a different approach. Slowly taking away Toothless' privileges would work.

However, it was just a hypothesis.

"Toothless." Hiccup said in a sing-song voice. "If you don't get out now, I'll not feed you any fish tonight."

The boy thought that it would work. But the dragon reacted very differently. He shook his head. Hiccup groaned again. This dragon was getting on his nerve. He tried to think of another thing that would surely make the dragon comply.

"How about if I disallow you from sleeping beside my bed?"

The dragon shook his head once again. Frustrated, Hiccup changed his tone.

"Toothless, get out of the house this instance!" he said irritably. The dragon still refused to budge. His dad was going to come home very soon, and if he failed to win over the cooperation of the dragon, they were going to get screwed.

"Toothless, if you don't get out of here, we'd be dead!"

Toothless stayed rooted to the ground, not moving anywhere. His rider decided that it was enough and walked up to the dragon, with the intention of taking away the reptile's prosthetic tail fin.

"Toothless, I warn you one last time. Get out of the house or I _will_ take away your tail fin." the Viking said in a deadpan tone.

The dragon obviously took this statement as a threat, because the next moment, he leapt over Hiccup's head, scaring the boy in the process, and landed with a thud on the other side of the room. He then continued scampering away from the boy, causing Hiccup to embark on a wild goose chase.

"Toothless! Get! Back! Here!" Hiccup said between pants. The dragon sure was fast, and Hiccup's prosthetic leg didn't help matters. Leaping over every obstacle in his path, he had an advantage in agility and speed.

"Come on, Toothless. Damn it!"

Hiccup's prosthetic leg was much more of a hinderance than a help. Somehow, the tip of the leg, which was the part that made contact with the ground when walking, got caught in the gaps between the wooden floor, causing Hiccup to trip and fall flat on his face. That was a rather unfortunate thing because his nose absorbed most of the impact. That would mean a broken nose and a visit to the infirmary later on in the day. Hiccup made a mental note to get back at Toothless if he had a chance to do so, because right now, Toothless _really_ deserved it.

"Thang kyou fer noffink, you usseless repile." Hiccup managed to utter out, but failed to articulate them properly thanks to his broken nose. He could feel the warm liquid tricking down the tip of his nose. The boy hoped that his father would be out of the way until he managed to clean up the mess that the dragon had created. Standing up, he surveyed the house and rated it 'very dirty' on the cleanliness scale.

However, 'very dirty' seemed to be a severe understatement.

"Gwait, Tootfless. This is just effing gwait."

The entire residence was covered in muddy paw prints. Chairs were overturned. Essentially, it was a complete mess. And Stoick would definitely strangle the both of them when he comes back. True enough, the front door opened and a huge red-bearded man rushed in.

"Hiccup are you all right? I thought I just heard…" Stoick stopped short his sentence, his green eyes surveying the room. Moist, slick mud was dropping off the wooden support beams, collecting at the bottom, giving the impression of manure. Then, the man looked at Toothless, who was covered in the same moist substance. It did not take long for him to put two and two together.

"Get out of the house! Get out! NOW! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!" Stoick shouted at Toothless. The dragon cringed but stayed rooted to the spot. Hiccup tried to reason with his father.

"Dad, just give it a rest…" he began.

"HOW CAN I GIVE THIS A REST? THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS! I REFUSE TO HAVE THIS DIRTY OVERGROWN LIZARD BEFOUL MY HOUSE! EVERY DAY HE BRINGS BACK SOMETHING HORRID! I GIVE UP! OUT OF THE HOUSE YOU GO!" he hollered.

Toothless did not take kindly to insults and threats. Therefore, he bared his teeth and narrowed his pupils into silts. Stoick too, did not take kindly to threats, so he extracted his stone mallet and challenged the dragon to a fight. Pushing Hiccup to one side, he advanced on the reptile.

"You want ter fight? Is that what yeh want?"

The dragon answered with a snarl. Stoick took that as a 'yes' and charged, catching Toothless by surprise.

"COME AND GET IT!"

WHACK!

The village chief had delivered a blow of the mallet to the side of Toothless's head. The force of the impact was more than enough to send the dragon off his balance, landing on the ground with a huge thud, shaking the entire house in the process. Hiccup had to rush over to his father's side to stop him from pummelling his dragon to death.

"Father, cool down."

"HOW CAN I COOL DOWN WITH THIS BEA-"

Stoick's sentence was cut short when Toothless slammed into him, full force, causing the both of them to roll off to the side of the house. Stoick's mallet flew out of its owner's hand and landed somewhere else. Meanwhile, the two were wrestling for control. Stoick was having some difficulty in shifting the dragon's snout away. The look on Toothless's face was definite. He was either going to harm Stoick, or get himself harmed. He reared his head and opened his mouth, wide. The persistent hissing was a tell-tale sign that the Night Fury was about to flame Hiccup's father. This reminded Hiccup of something. And that did not bring up happy memories.

"STOB IT! BOTH OF YEW!"

The two wrestlers stopped whatever they were doing and looked in Hiccup's direction. Toothless swallowed back his fire in a strangled yelp while Stoick turned around, both of them were momentarily stunned. The entire situation looked like a parody of when both of them had met. Perhaps it was because Hiccup rarely shouted, because he got full attention this time round. And that was saying something.

"Just stob." Hiccup sighed exasperatedly. "Every time yew meet each other, disaster follows! Can't yew two quit fighthing? Breakfast is almost here and I have an entire house to clean!"

Toothless and Stoick continued to stare in a dumbfounded fashion at Hiccup. Stoick had long resigned to believing that his son was not able to shout in anger because his son usually swallowed insults and rarely retorted. Toothless, on the other hand, had never seen the angry side of his rider before, and was equally stunned.

"Okay? Are we done? Because I've gobt some things I need to… yeb, I'll see yew… see yew later."

Hiccup cleaned his bloody nose on the sleeve of his shirt before disappearing into the upper floor of the house through the staircase. As he went into his room and settled down on his bed, Hiccup sighed in frustration.

_Dang_, he thought. _Why do they always have to fight over such trivial matters? And why does Toothless always have to dirty the place?_

If his dragon and father were to coexist harmoniously, Toothless would have to be more obedient than he is now and Stoick would have to be more patient and not as hot-headed. If this went on, the house would probably be destroyed one day. Hiccup would almost imagine Stoick wreaking the house with his mallet in pursuit of the dragon or Toothless setting the house on fire in a desperate attempt to protect himself. Either way, it wasn't going to end nicely. A deathly silence settled over the house and Hiccup wondered what was going on down there. Had they stopped fighting? There was a distinct creaking noise of the wooden floorboard coming from outside the door which told the boy that someone was coming up. It would either be his father, dragon or both. The door slowly opened, revealing the heavily bearded face of a man whose arms were as big as barrels.

"Dad." Hiccup muttered. Said Viking replied with a low grunt and walked over to the bed, settling down beside his son. He placed a huge palm over Hiccup's back and petted him.

"Look, son. I am sorry for just now…" Stoick began. Hiccup cut across his father's sentence.

"It's okay. I don't really mimb it."

Stoick sighed. "If you wish Toothless to stay in this house, he's gotta follow the rules. I cannot stand having an animal tracking mud into my house."

Hiccup was absolutely appalled at his father's remark about Toothless being an animal.

"Tootfless is NOT an animal. He saved me dewing the…" Hiccup stopped short, realising what he had just mentioned. He had not been bringing up the incident of him falling into the firestorm after the Red Death had been defeated. Tears brimmed his eyes and he put his forehead onto his hand. Stoick knew how much the boy had hated to bring up the incident and changed the subject.

"How's your nose? Are yeh all right?" he asked, voice tinged with concern.

Hiccup wasn't paying any attention to whatever his father was saying. He was lost in his own thoughts. The pain. The horror. The moment he was unseated from the saddle.

_Twang!_

_The artificial tail fin had broken off the tail. The high tension ropes snapped in the process, ripping the gears apart. Something sharp had embedded itself into Hiccup's left leg. The pain had been excruciating. Coupled with the unbearable heat from the searing blast furnace below them, they could have been in hell. All Hiccup could do now is to pray that the thermodynamic current would carry them further up, away from hell. Pain was all he could feel. His vision was blurring. He felt giddy. He could feel the warm liquid running down the length of his leg. Higher and higher they soared. Soon, they had cleared the distance of half the tail. Yes! They were going to make it._

_Then, the gigantic club tail shattered Hiccup's hopes of escape._

_The feeling of dread. Of horror. Of panic. That was all he knew. Fear engulfed him, and he instinctively tried to steer Toothless in the other direction, horse-riding style. But no, it failed. With the artificial tail fin gone, they were helpless._

"_No."_

_Hiccup wanted to scream. He wanted to jump off Toothless. The tail loomed closer. And Hiccup knew they were dead. He made one last ditch attempt to steer Toothless to the right… before the tail came crashing down on them._

"_NO!"_

_CRACK!_

_There was an explosion of pain in Hiccup's left leg. His vision went haywire. Spots started to appear. He must have been flung off Toothless in the process. He felt himself flying through the air. For a moment, he thought that he was in Valhalla, then, he felt the heat bombarding his back. He was falling into the furnace. Toothless appeared, diving downwards, roaring in frustration as he tried to reach for the boy. Hiccup's vision faded, and Toothless was reduced to a fuzzy black dot._

_Toothless, he had thought, before the flames engulfed him._

_Darkness ensued._

* * *

"AHHHH!"

"HICCUP!"

Said Viking was screaming at the top of his lungs. After a while, his body went limp and he dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Stoick the Vast was staring at his son's body, and was paralysed with fear. What just happened? It took a while before Stoick was able to react to the situation.

"Hiccup." the Viking said, shaking Hiccup's body. That action garnered no response. Determined, Stoick repeated the process several times, until he was on the verge of tears.

"_Hiccup! Damn!_"

He had to get to the infirmary, fast. He did not know how serious Hiccup's condition was. Stoick knew that his son had been having headaches again, bit still could not get the idea of his son being possessed by some demon.

_Hang in there, Hiccup._

_

* * *

_"Hiccup." a voice said. It sounded like it was from a faraway place. Someone was slapping his cheek. For what reason, the boy did not know. He just wanted to die. He wanted his agony to end. He wanted to get engulfed by the flames. To die in the flames. Just as Toothless had done so to save him.

The only thing that was out of place was that there was no pain.

Did he die? Was he in Valhalla? Was the person slapping him in the cheeks a god? He wanted to know so badly. He wanted to open those eyes of his. There was a loud clanging noise that seemed to emanate from somewhere nearby. Then someone shouted.

"Get that dragon of his to shut up!"

There was a shout of 'yes, sir' and some scurrying of footsteps. So, he had done it! He was dead. And this was Valhalla. Excitement coursed through his veins and that gave him the strength to open his eyes. He had expected the place to look odd.

What he did not expect was to see his father's face looming above him.

"What in the name of Odin…" Hiccup breathed out. However, before he could ask any questions, Stoick started blabbering.

"Oh, Hiccup. You don't know how worried I was. Are yeh feeling all right? Do yeh need the doctor? Are yeh feeling dry? Do yeh need some wa-"

"_Stop!_" Hiccup exhaled. His mind was in a mess right now. What had happened? One moment he was in his room. The next moment he was battling the Red Death. Then, following that, he was lying on a bed in the infirmary, with his father's head looming above him and slapping his cheeks. And his nose felt better than it had in the last minute. Or is it?

"What happened?" was the first thing Hiccup had asked after he had cleared his mind. Stoick looked at his son and wondered if he should tell. Hiccup stared at his father's eyes and Stoick did the same. They probably locked eyes for about a minute before Stoick spoke.

"Yeh passed out." he said, before adding, "Suddenly."

Hiccup contemplated the plausibility of the situation. How could he just inexplicably pass out like that? It did not make sense. And how could he suddenly be transported into the dragons' nest without even moving an inch and the Red Death gets reincarnated? Hiccup reached out his hand and touched his father's face to confirm that this wasn't a hallucination. It felt warm and solid. No hallucination could be that real. So the boy came to the conclusion that his mind _isn't _playing tricks on him.

"Okay. But this seems so surreal."

It _was_ surreal. He passed out for no reason. That was not something you'd experience everyday. Ut took Hiccup a while to process the information and come up with a deduction of what was happening. The 'battle' with the Red Death must have been a dream. It must have. There was no other plausible explanation. But what sort of dream could have the power to make him collapse? Perhaps it was not a normal dream. A very powerful dream of sorts.

"Are yeh sure yeh all right, son? Yeh were screaming before yeh passed out." his father said.

Then Hiccup remembered something. His dragon. Where was he?

"I think that I will get some water fer yeh." Stoick suggested, but was stopped by his son. "What is it?"

"Toothless. Where's Toothless?"

His father looked at him. He was debating whether or not he should tell his son the truth. Finally, after a moment of complete silence, he decided that he would go ahead.

"Er, yeh've got ter know, son. That the dragon… the dragon went berserk when he saw me carrying yeh down the steps."

What? Toothless went berserk? So where is he?

"You haven't answered my question yet. Where is he?"

"We've got ter… got ter lock 'im up."

"WHAT!"

"We had to do it. If not he would 'ave set the entire village on fire."

"Toothless _hates_ confinement!"

"It's fer the village's own good. We've done nothing to hurt 'im. No one dared to go within fifty meters of the cage."

"He'd blow up the entire mountain!"

"We didn't know what ter do! We were waiting fer yeh to wake up such that yeh could calm 'im down!"

A loud roar and an explosion broke the conversation. Hiccup looked in the direction of the noise, which seemed to be entering the infirmary through the open window. Squinting his eyes, he could see that a pillar of smoke was rising up from beyond the forest. He deduced that that was where Toothless was being kept under arrest.

"Bring me to see him." Hiccup decided.

Before Stoick could open his mouth to utter out a single word, a Viking burst into the infirmary, covered from head to toe in black soot.

"Chief! We 'ave trouble! The dragon has set fire to the warehouse!"

"Go get the fire brigade!"

The Viking complied almost immediately, sprinting out through the door and into the distance.

"Dad, I'll go with them." Hiccup said,

"No. It is to dangerous fer yeh. You'll get killed."

"No. He is my dragon. He'll listen to me." Hiccup said, determined.

Stoick stood there, contemplating the options. He could let Hiccup out and the beast would be tamed, but he'll run the risk of getting his son killed. Or he could leave Hiccup here and try in vain to control the beast, and run the risk of getting more people injured. After a while, another explosion was heard and screams pierced the air.

"Please, dad. Just let me get to him. He'll understand."

That was more than enough to spur Stoick to get Hiccup out of the bed and bring him to where that blasted dragon was.

"Come." said the chief, extending a hand to help Hiccup out of the bed.

Hiccup and Stoick were silent as they made their way to the cage. The sky was clear and the sun was scorching the ground. Hiccup thought that if he could successfully get Toothless to calm down, they would go for a flight around Berk.

As they neared the enclosure, the first thing Hiccup noticed was the heat. The trees were burning and some Vikings were busy putting out the fire that was engulfing the warehouse. Then he saw it. The bolted steel gate that was meant for holding a full grown Monstrous Nightmare. It was already red-hot and smoke was billowing out of the cage through the tiny gaps. The gates were rattling on its bolts and Hiccup doubted that it would hold much longer against Toothless's relentless assault. There was a flash of blue light and the metal rod that was keeping the cast-iron gates together fractured, spraying the floor with hot metallic shrapnels. Looking upwards, the boy saw that the wooden beam that was supposed to lock the door had long since been burnt into an unrecognisable mess of charcoal that was scattered all over the floor. In its place was a large piece of cast-iron that was slowly melting away. The entire gate was sagging, slowly turning into liquid.

"Open the gates!" Stoick commanded.

"Are yeh mad?" Spitelout shouted from behind them.

"Just open them. Hiccup's here."

"Yeh sure?"

"Yes."

"What if something happens?"

"Nothing will happen. I am sure of that." Stoick reassured.

Spitelout stared at Stoick as if he had grown an extra head. He finally relented and ordered, "Open the gates!"

A group of reluctant Vikings approached the release lever carefully, taking small steps at a time. Hiccup couldn't blame them, approaching a cage that housed a mad Night Fury proves to be a very bad idea. After all that battering, the boy doubted that the gate would even be functional at all.

"One. Two. Three. Open!"

One of the Vikings pulled down the lever and immediately darted away from the scene. There was silence for a moment, except for the sound of sizzling metal. Then, there was a huge explosion. If not for Stoick's quick reflexes, Hiccup would have been crushed by the cast iron gates that were speeding towards him.

A black blur darted out of the cage, headed straight for Stoick. Hiccup threw himself in the path of the charging Night Fury.

"Hiccup!"

"Toothless! Toothless, calm down." Hiccup said, soothingly. Upon hearing his rider's voice, the dragon stopped abruptly in his tracks, staring at the boy who was currently blocking his path. Hiccup felt that there was a need to comfort the dragon and he moved forward, albeit rather abruptly, causing the dragon to emit a low growl, baring his teeth.

"It's okay. It's me, Toothless. I'm Hiccup. I'm a friend."

Hiccup stretched out both his arms in front of him in an attempt to calm down the dragon.

"Calm down, Toothless."

Hiccup adverted his gaze from Toothless's eyes. It had worked on the dragon once, and it could work again. The boy stretched out his left arm more than his right and waited for the dragon to answer. And he did. The dragon allowed his snout to touch Hiccup's palm. The Viking flinched a little, due to the fact that the dragon was very, _very_ warm. The dragon rider turned to face Toothless and gave him a pat on his snout.

"Look. There's nothing to worry about."

After Stoick was very sure that Hiccup had calmed down the beast, he gave the all clear signal.

"All right. Problem's resolved. Everybody clear out!"

The crowd that had gathered was starting to thin out, leaving only the fire brigade to clean up the mess. Hiccup was busy administering his scratch onto Toothless, who was busy eliciting purrs. Both were so engrossed that they did not notice Astrid and her Nadder sneaking up from behind them.

"Boo!"

"AH!"

The young Viking jumped and turned around to face a laughing Astrid.

"Hey! That wasn't funny!" Hiccup complained. Astrid laughed for a while more before socking Hiccup in his arm.

"That's for scaring me." Astrid said.

"OW! What was that fo…"

Before Hiccup could finish his sentence, Astrid grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Hiccup's insides dissolved. He had always liked these type of 'That's for so and so, and that's for everything else' sessions with Astrid.

But all good things don't last long. All too soon, Astrid pulled away from Hiccup and left him standing there, blinking his eyes rapidly and swaying from side to side like a drunken man.

"And that's for everything else."

All Hiccup could do was to give her a smile.

"Wanna race?" Astrid suggested, mounting her Nadder,

Normally, Hiccup was not the kind of person who would accept a challenge, especially before the battle against the Red Death. However, he was feeling competitive this time round, so he decide to take up the challenge.

"All right, let's race."

Hiccup mounted Toothless and gave him the blink of his eye. Toothless got the message and replied with a nod of his head. Hiccup could feel Toothless' body tense up as he prepared to spring into the air.

"One. Two. Three. Go!"

And both dragons launched themselves into the air. The ground became a blur underneath Toothless as they soared higher and higher. With the cool wind rustling Hiccup's hair and the feeling of ecstasy as they reached into the cloud, Hiccup felt as if he were in Valhalla, if not, better than Valhalla. Astrid and her Nadder, Stormfly, was starting to lag behind them. Hiccup laughed. He knew that they would not be able to compete against the speed of the Night Fury.

"YEAH!"

He was the happiest Viking in the world at that moment. Looking back, he could see the island that was his home, his birthplace.

Berk.

However, what he did not know is that he would not be returning to Berk later that day.

* * *

End of chapter three.

I hoped you enjoyed it as much as I did.

By the way, Hiccup is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, thus the nightmares. The reason why he fainted... I think it is best I don't disclose it right now ;)

Next up, Chapter 4: Incurring the Wrath of Mother Nature.

Please leave a review. I need to know how I had done. Stay tuned.


	4. Incurring the Wrath of Mother Nature

**Disclaimer:** This is starting to sound a little redundant. Same thing applies with this chapter. See the disclaimers of previous chapters to get a better idea.

All right guys/gals. In this chapter we'll see the part where Hiccup and Toothless get struck by lightning. It is a little lengthy, and so will future chapters. Once the plot gets rolling you'll be expecting to see 10,000 word updates from me. No more of... _this._

Well, anyways. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Especially 'ANON'. Yes, I do realize that I've rushed things a little too much in the last chapter. So, hopefully, this chapter will make up for the last one.

Please enjoy ;)

* * *

Chapter Four: Incurring the Wrath of Mother Nature

* * *

He knew that he was dead long before he made contact with the ground.

How did he know that?

First off, the chances of surviving a lightning strike was pretty low. Dodging it was even harder. Especially if you were surrounded by metal. And his prosthetic metal leg did not help make that any easier. Secondly, losing consciousness a thousand feet above the air is not a good idea. Especially when you are depending on your consciousness to handle the situation. Thirdly, he was caught off guard by the storm. It was as if someone had decided to fiddle with the weather and screwed up with the weather controls. And storms here on the Hebrides could get very nasty. They'd dump an ocean on you and the violent winds only made matters worse.

What was even worse was that Hiccup had flown straight into a storm cloud. And it did not help matters that his dragon had went into DefCon 1 during the entire course of the journey through the storm cloud.

It had started out as a friendly race between Hiccup and Astrid. Both were on their dragons of course.

"See ya later!" Hiccup had exclaimed when Astrid and her Nadder started to lag behind. It did not come as a surprise. Hiccup had always won when it came to dragon speed races, thanks to Toothless, who seemed to be enjoying himself. Hiccup couldn't blame his dragon. The young Viking wished that he had sprouted wings. _That_ would be defined as 'awesome'. Even if he'd look hideous with a pair of long wings attached to his back, he would not complain. Experiencing the thrill of free flight every day would compensate for the hideous looks. The cool wind blasting his face and the ability to soar into the clouds… Hiccup couldn't ask for more.

Then Astrid decided to change plans.

"The last person who gets back to Berk loses!" With that, she turned her Nadder around and headed back to the said island. Hiccup grinned and changed the position of the tail fin by shifting the pedal. By doing so, the dragon made a sharp turn to the right and shot through the air like a speeding bullet. They were traveling so fast that Hiccup's eyes stung from the wind that was currently bombarding his face. He really hoped that he wouldn't get unseated from the saddle and get caught in the wind shear. That would have been unfavorable for the both of them. Soon, they were catching up with Astrid and her Nadder. The girl turned her head to look at Hiccup and gave him a sly grin. Then, she muttered something to her dragon and they shot off into the distance. Hiccup had never seen a Nadder fly that fast before. Even he and Toothless had some difficulty in closing up the already widening gap between the two dragons. Perhaps the real reason that Astrid had lagged behind was that she had it all planned out. And she was not going to lose the race this time round.

"Let's show 'em what we're made of, Toothless." Hiccup said to his dragon. The reptile nodded his head and picked up speed, eyes trained on the blue speck that was Hiccup's girlfriend. It was as if the Night Fury had activated his afterburners, because they were screaming through the air in no time. Hiccup's eardrums were throbbing from the screech but, hey, who's complaining? Riding on a Night Fury is not something you'd get every day. With every passing minute, Berk loomed closer and so did Astrid and Stormfly.

"Faster." Hiccup coaxed. He wasn't going to lose this race. No. He was riding on a Night Fury. The fastest breed of dragons. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Yes. He wasn't going to be bested by a Viking female who rides on a Nadder.

Okay, maybe he'd still get pummeled to death by Astrid if they were ever engaged in a one-on-one combat, but still.

"Hey, Astrid! How ya doing?" the Viking boy called out to the Girl on The Nadder. She turned around and was a little surprised at their sudden appearance, but that look was quickly replaced by that of determination. The kind of determination you'd expect from people who are intent on beating you in whatever they do.

"I'm not losing to you this time round. Not even Odin could change my mind." She said with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. That proved that she wasn't going to give up trying. So wasn't Hiccup. He simply laughed.

"Please, by all means." He said with a slight trace of sarcasm beneath his voice. Yeah, right. Like he'd pass up an opportunity to outrun, sorry, out_fly_ his opponent. Never in a million years would he do that. Hiccup had finally found something that he excelled at, well, besides blacksmithing. Once you get a taste of besting every one else, you get addicted to it. Hiccup was no exception. The female took that as a challenge and coaxed her dragon to fly even faster.

"See ya later!" Astrid said, mimicking Hiccup's voice and speeding off into the distance. The Nadder was obviously straining from the effort to keep up its speed. The Viking male smiled. He knew that the Nadder would not be able to sustain such speeds for long. Nadders are built for land combat, with their cannon-like fire and superb agility. They weren't built for flying at high speeds. Night Furies are built for that purpose, with their awesome firepower and sleek streamlined body, they had the natural advantage over here. Then, just as Hiccup had predicted, the Nadder began to lose her stamina, slowing down a little and started to lag behind. Toothless easily overtook the Nadder and continued flying towards Berk.

"Losing speed, eh?" Hiccup taunted. Astrid replied by giving him a 'you-will-get-it-from-me-later' kind of look. Not exactly what you'd want from a girl who could dislocate your jaws with little effort. Okay, at least she only dislocated the jaws of those boys who tricked her into letting them kiss her. That was fine by Hiccup, because he was planning on exploring the islands beyond Berk, which meant that he wasn't going to return to the village anytime soon, which also meant that he wasn't going to get socked by Astrid anytime soon. Yes, he would have to face his girlfriend sometime in the very near future but all he could think of now is to fly into the clouds. To experience the wonderful sky, just as Astrid had.

"Accelerate!" Hiccup yelled. And his dragon did. They went faster and faster, gaining altitude and increased the distance between them and their pursuers, if they could even be called that. The clouds came closer, looming overhead tantalizingly, as if it were waiting for someone to touch it. Hiccup very much wanted to reach for it, however, he first had to finish the race. Berk loomed closer, and soon, the harbor came into view, so did the Vikings that were busying themselves on the wooden planks.

Hiccup decided to make a dramatic entrance, so he changed the position of the artificial tail fin and they soared into the air. Only when they reached a high enough altitude did they plunge back to the earth. Toothless did a reverse tumble in the air and dived straight down, screeching as he did so. The wing sliced through the air, producing that familiar ballistic shrieking noise that Night Furies were well known for. Hiccup wondered if the Vikings on Berk were stunned by the sudden appearance of the shriek, and he wasn't disappointed. The instant the shriek reached a pitch that was barely audible, the cries of the humans could be heard echoing through the air.

"Night Fury! Get down!"

Hiccup could see the Vikings ducking down in fear. All of them. As if they were expecting the catapults to suddenly explode or something. Toothless pulled out of the dive before they hit the ground and soared into the air once again, blasting several trees with a good amount of wind in the process. The green forest was a blur beneath them. Hiccup could never get enough of this. It was like some sort of addiction. Flying. And it'd be cool to be able to breathe fire too. What joy! Hiccup could imagine himself decimating the entire forest with a firestorm of his own creation and then circling the scene of destruction from above. The boy got a little jealous of his dragon sometimes. Who could blame him?

A huge cliff that was entirely coated with snow loomed up ahead of him. While the rest of the island was too low to be a hinderance, he knew that the mountain was going to hurt… if he had went on a head-on collision with the wall of stone. Not to mention that Toothless would be suffering from a concussion, or perhaps from severe brain damage. With eyes trained on the tall geographical feature, he said.

"When we hit that mountain, get us into the clouds. Can you do that, bud?"

The dragon grunted and the boy took that as a 'yes'. They were headed straight for the cliff. It was an apparent suicide mission, but Hiccup had a lot of faith in his dragon. They were traveling through the air so fast that the cliff was… _just right there_. Hiccup's eyes widened and he shifted the pedal into the right position, causing the both of them to soar upwards into the air. Toothless pumped his wings hard, propelling himself into the sky. They were mere inches from the cliff such that Hiccup could feel it racing past his feet, well, his _right_ feet.

"Yeah! Go baby!" Hiccup shouted. And he had quite the shout for a person his size. His shouts reverberated through the valley below and rang out to the island and beyond. The boy would not have been surprised if his father were to say that he had heard him shouting. So much for being the weakest Viking in the village.

They broke through the clouds and with that came a blast of cold air. They soared past the top of the cliff and Hiccup shifted the position of the pedal, causing the dragon to fly parallel to the ground, only at much higher altitudes. The air here was much thinner too, and Hiccup was beginning to pant in an effort to inhale as much oxygen as he could, which was very difficult as there was very little oxygen in the air to begin with. The Viking boy decided that it was best that they descended into lower altitudes to prevent the possibility that he might die of suffocation up here. Better alive than dead anyway. Shifting the pedal once again, the duo dipped back into the realm that was free of clouds. Hiccup saw that they had covered a large distance, and was already three quarters of the way across Berk, albeit a rather tiny Berk as viewed from up here. The young boy spotted an island in the distance and decided that he would head for it. He was in a good mood today, if you put aside all those things that had transpired that morning, so he wanted to explore the place.

That would turn out to be a bad decision. At least for Hiccup.

They dived downwards, although not as fast as they had when they were teasing the Vikings back there. But it was still enough to create a slight whistling shriek as they did so. The feeling was incredible. Fortunately for Hiccup, he wasn't acrophobic. If he were, he would be hyperventilating. The sight was breathtaking nonetheless. Imagine a huge island beneath you, covered in lush green conifers, surrounded by an ocean that twinkled in the sunlight. An ocean that had crystal clear water and shone with a blue brilliance. That was the kind of sight you'd get when you are going on a vertical nose dive with your dragon. That is, if you don't pass out from the sheer brilliance, or fear. Slowly, they pulled out of the dive at around two thousand feet from the ground and continued on their trajectory towards the island.

Things would have gone better if not for the interference of the weather.

Mother Nature was bad. She was naughty. You'd wake up in the day to perfect weather, sunny day, blue skies and all. But nature can be deceiving. Don't judge the weather by its looks. Just when you are going on a vacation to the beach and then nature almost always manages to screw up that perfect day. Be it an earthquake or a tempest, your day would get ruined. As if matters were going to be very different for Hiccup and Toothless. They were about to experience the true horror of Mother Nature.

The scenic ride was very pleasurable. One of the reasons why Hiccup loved to take Toothless on rides like that was that he was able to take his mind off things. Sometimes life on Berk gets very busy and the boy would hitch a ride on his personal dragon and go explore the island. Their little adventures took them to places that they would never dream of going to. One such example was the sky. Up until he met Toothless, it was virtually impossible to reach for the clouds. That is, if you climb the vertical cliff that stood in the middle of Berk. But even climbing _that_ would prove to be impossible, even for a man like Stoick. So every now and then, the frail, little, not-so-awesome geek would climb aboard his strong, medium-sized, all-so-awesome reptile (not to mention useless) and they would both soar into the sky, pushing boundaries and reaching newer heights. Oh, and friendly little races like that with Astrid were also common. Heck, even the village started to hold monthly dragon speed races to get away from the hustle and bustle of life.

Hiccup spotted some granite pillar formations poking out of the sea. He did not know how they got there, or were formed. All that he knew about these strange structures were that they had existed for as long as this island had. Not that he did not respect them, but he and most probably Toothless, wanted to have some fun and to let off some steam. So, they decided to blast these structures into half.

Time for target practice. Well, at least for the dragon.

"All right, Toothless. You are going to enjoy this. See those pillars over there? I want you to cut them clean into half, you got that?" Hiccup enquired.

The dragon was more than happy to comply. Because he hadn't been target practicing for a long period of time. But, hey, who's complaining?

The blacksmith's apprentice let Toothless zoom past one of the pillars before shifting the pedal into position. They were used to this already. Heck, they've even brought down the Red Death. Toothless stopped mid-air and did a full reverse tumble, building up his gas and zeroing in on the pillar. The all-too-familiar shriek pierced the air like a knife and the dragon got busy letting loose the blue ball of death. Hiccup felt his dragon's muscle tense up and then at the last second before they pulled out of the dive, the dragon relaxed his muscles suddenly. It was comparable to that of a spring. The rider's body was shaking from the force that was used to propel the fireball into its intended target. And it hit dead centre.

The explosion was like a cannon blast. Hiccup could feel the vibrations even from this distance. The entire ocean was bathed in the brilliant sapphire light as the blue halo danced across the air. For a moment, the granite pillar seemed to shudder under the immense intensity of the explosion. There was a sizzling noise as the fire continued to burn ferociously, causing the granite to turn red-hot. Then, it started to crumble as cracks made itself known on the structure, but it still looked sturdy and wasn't going to go down. Yet. Hiccup decided that another bombing run would end the pillar's life right there and then. And so he went in for the kill.

"Another shot, Toothless."

They both soared into the air, doing a complete loop that would deposit them at the other side of the granite pillar, during which Toothless started to tense up his body and build up gas. Folding his wings inwards, they sped through the air at close to supersonic speeds. Hiccup wouldn't be surprised if he were to be the first Viking ever to break the sound barrier. But now all he wanted to see was for that pathetic little pillar in front of him to crumble into the depths of the ocean. Toothless screamed across the air, full speed, body vibrating from the sheer speed and violence of it all. All his energies and concentration now went into delivering that awesome blast of fire. Following that you would have a brilliant fireworks display. Very nice deal, eh? Only if one could withstand the persistent shrieking that had the ability to impair one's hearing. Then it could be very enjoyable.

The granite pillar sped towards them, more like they sped towards the granite pillar. Toothless contracted his pupils, focused on the target with all his willpower, tensed up his body, and let loose the deadly fireball. After that, all that was left was to hope that the fireball would find its mark. However, Toothless won't be doing that. Why? Because Night Furies had an uncanny ability to be able to have a hundred percent accuracy, no matter the circumstances. Unless the target moved then that was a different thing all together. The fireball slammed into the pillar with such ferocity that the structure vibrated. Yes, it vibrated. This time it was a clean shot. The fireball penetrated the pillar and sprayed its brilliant blue flames in a straight line leading away from the pillar. The granite structure shuddered and crumbled, falling into the ocean and hitting the surface of the water with a consistent plopping noise. Ripples disturbed the calm surface of the ocean as rock of all sizes continued to disengage themselves from the main pillar. Satisfied, Hiccup and Toothless circled the site of the devastation. The red-hot rocks vaporized the water as they plunged. The ocean bubbled and hissed aggressively, as if it were offended by its offering of hot rocks.

"Well, that was a nice shot." Hiccup commented. And he meant it. Toothless nodded his approval.

This was turning out to be better than Hiccup had expected. At least until he meets Astrid, who would surely start the 'that was for blah blah blah, and that is for everything else' thingy once again. Hiccup was used to it already. Because Astrid would do that every time he met her. Somehow, she would be able to cook up some strange reason and sock her boyfriend in the arm, then she would pull him in for a kiss. Strange behavior. But if he was going to receive a kiss at the end of it, he would give a damn in the world for what happens before the kiss. Heck, he could even stand there for the entire day trying to remember his name if not for Toothless, who would alway have this naughty look in his eyes, as if he enjoyed watching his rider getting kissed. Not that he did not like the look but something about it was wrong. Dragons aren't supposed to be watching humans conducting their intimate make-out sessions. However, that would prove to be very difficult as Toothless always stood guard by Hiccup's side, acting as if he were his rider's guardian angel. More like guardian dragon. And that was a frequent occurrence ever since Toothless found out that Hiccup had lost his leg. So much for human privacy.

The wind had picked up speed and the sky was turning dark. Not because it was late and the sun was about to set, but it was because of something else. Something much more terrifying than the sun going down the horizon or of the moon resuming its position in the night sky. No. It was due to the fact that the tempests around this area is very terrifying. And when they strike, they strike without warning. Hiccup had remembered a piece of advice that his father had given to him months ago. It was about keeping safe while he was flying Toothless. As good as they were, the duo were not invincible. Hiccup knew full well why they weren't invincible. There had been an accident a few months ago that involved the death of a fellow Viking and his dragon. The dangers that the natural environment posed were far more devastating than anything the Red Death could throw at them.

"_Remember not to stray too far away from Berk. The weather could turn nasty in the blink of an eye._" his father had advised. Thankfully, they had stuck to the advice and not stray too far. No accident had befallen them while they were at it. And Hiccup was rather relieved about that. But as for today, it seemed that they had strayed a little _too_ far away from the safety of the island of Berk and they were at the mercy of the weather. Hiccup had heard of how huge trading ships often get lost in the middle of severe tempests like those present at the area around Berk. Hiccup figured that if a storm of that magnitude could pretend to be Odin and toss ships around wherever it wanted, it would not take much for the storm to down two pathetic little biological beings that had just invaded its territory. Suddenly a picturesque afternoon was turning out to be a not so picturesque afternoon thanks to the storm. Hiccup thought that if they needed to get out of here fast, they had to be prepared.

_Let me just fly a little bit more._

That would prove to be a very bad decision. For the both of them. The winds lashed ferociously at them. The storm system was beginning to take shape. The sky darkened even further and it started to drizzle. Lightning flashed across the sky and was accompanied by the roar of thunder. They would die a horrible death indeed if the bolt of lightning were to hit them.

_Just a little more._

Toothless started to panic. He could sense that the storm was overhead. And Hiccup guess that it would be very hazardous for dragons to fly high in the sky in this type of weather. It must be some sort of instinct that had been hardwired into the brains of the dragon.

"Just stay with me a little longer, bud." Hiccup assured. Instead of being assured, Toothless went from DefCon 4 to DefCon 3. Not a very good sign. The dragon could very well toss Hiccup off his back if he were panicking.

That was when it started to rain. And it was not just _any_ rain. It was as if an entire ocean was being dumped out of the cloud. The cold winds lashed out at Hiccup. He was soaked to the skin as the rain pelted relentlessly and mercilessly at the duo. And the dragon had entered a heightened state of panic. So much so that he was hyperventilating. DefCon 2.

The visibility had dropped to zero. Nothing could be seen through the rain and the impenetrable darkness of the storm clouds. Hiccup knew that they were hopelessly lost. Without any source of heat and light, they were doomed. Now they were sitting ducks, waiting for the lighting to strike them. He wondered if his father was still waiting for him back on Berk. If he was worrying. Worried that his son might get lost in the storm. Or worse, if he had died in the storm. That day would prove to be the day Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and his Night Fury, Toothless, vanished from the face of the earth without a trace. Stoick the Vast would be left to mourn for his son. The Viking scouts would search for his son high and low, but would come up empty. Then he could picture his father weeping at the loss of his son. Nothing would be left of him. Not even a bone or a piece of skin.

There was a brilliant flash of white light as the bolt of lightning streaked across the dark sky. A clap of thunder followed shortly afterwards. Hiccup could feel his chest vibrating from the sheer violence of nature's creation. The sun had apparently disappeared behind all these clouds. Hiccup could only wonder how these tempests formed. How they had so much power to block out the sun. How they had so much power to play Odin and wreak mass havoc. There was no time to ponder about all those as a flash of light so close to him snapped him back into reality. What was that flash of light?

Turns out it was a bolt of lightning. He was bathed in a wave of heat and was blasted by a loud crack as the electrical wonder flashed out of existence. He was seriously beginning to doubt his chances of navigating out of this storm in one piece. The bolt of lightning seemed to have affected Toothless as well. For he had officially gone from DefCon 2 to DefCon 1. He was hyperventilating, if you could even call that hyperventilating. And he was ready to pitch his rider off his back. It was not normal for dragons to hang out in such conditions like these. The Night Fury knew full well of that. If you stayed in the air for too long, you'd get struck by those lightning things. And there was going to be a good chance that you'd sent on a one way ticket to Valhalla. Not a very nice way to end your life. At least, not when you are enjoying life.

But that was where they were headed for.

An idea came to Hiccup's mind. He thought back to how Toothless had shot a fireball into the distance after their first successful flight. It had the ability to detonate mid-air. So why not utilize it right now? The Viking boy decided to test out that hypothesis. He bent over and said into the dragon's ear, which wasn't easy as the dragon was still DefCon 1-ing away. However, he did manage to get the dragon's attention anyway. And it was crucial to maintain a connection right now.

"Toothless. Why not you try to fire a shot into the air? We could do with some light." Hiccup suggested. The dragon was quick on the uptake and begun building up gas, firing up for a shot. Then, he released it into the outside world. The little blue bolt of fire sped into the distance, providing a little light. Hiccup hoped that the fireball would be able to survive the unrelenting winds and rain. The bolt of fire disappeared for a while, and Hiccup thought that the fireball really had been extinguished. However, all hopes were restored when a flash of blue light in the distance stood out like a beacon amongst the dark murkiness of the sky. It provided some relief as it radiated heat in all directions and provided a little bit of light. Hiccup could see the blue sea underneath as the fireball exploded. There was a distinct sizzling as the fireball evaporated the rainwater that had landed on it. It did not last long. Soon, the fire dissipated, along with whatever hope that was tied to it. Now they were trapped, really trapped.

The dark sky closed in like a vice, some sort of claustrophobic horror machine. Things aren't going well for Toothless either. He was very claustrophobic, unfortunately. If Toothless was freaked out, chances are that they would not be getting anywhere. At least for the moment. And the dragon was panting, which probably means that he is tired. Requesting him to fire another shot would probably exhaust him, which could mean that they plummet into the ocean. Now, if they were going to get out of this situation alive, he'd gotta rely on his instincts, and some luck.

"Let's get out of here, Toothless. Quick!" Hiccup said with an urgent tone. Things would go downhill if they stayed here any longer, and suddenly Hiccup wished that he'd just land on Berk after he had won the race. However, as of now, he did not have much choice than to submit to Odin's will. If Odin wanted him to live, he'd live. If Odin wanted him to die, he'd die. He muttered a silent prayer to his to-be killer and hoped that that would influence the god's decisions. Yeah, right. Like that would be much of a help right now. A flash of lightning and thunder was the answer he received after saying that prayer. So much for believing that Odin would help such a puny little Viking. They were now officially declared dead, and Toothless was still on DefCon 1. Bottom line was that they weren't getting anywhere. The Night Fury whined, and that made Hiccup whine too.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the pitch black sky and the rain lightened a bit. Did Odin really hear his prayers. The winds died down a little. That was an affirmation that the gods were on his side. However, it did not help that his dragon was pitching up and down, frantically beating his wings. The sky remained a solid black color. Hiccup guessed that there was no changing that fact. Another roll of thunder caught his attention, and Hiccup decided that the time had come to get the heck out of this place and to fly back to Berk.

However, Odin was not on the same page as the Viking that was currently invading one of his storms.

Hiccup had not expected to get out of this unharmed. He knew that he would get a cut somehow, or break a bone. Whichever befalls him.

However, nothing could have prepared him for what transpired next.

It all happened so fast, Hiccup did not have the time to react. And obviously Toothless didn't as well.

The first thing that occurred was that the light had enveloped the both of them. The light came first. It was as if they had entered a portal that would transport them into Valhalla or something. Then the heat struck. It wasn't like any heat. It was a very hot kind of heat. Hiccup could not find the right words to describe that kind of heat. He knew for a fact that the lightning had struck him, too fast for him to do anything that might have prevented this calamity from happening in the first place but it did anyway. Sparks flew everywhere as the electric current continued on its course up Hiccup's body. It felt like a thousand bees was stinging him. His muscles started to contact and there was a massive muscle spasm that lasted for a short while. But, miraculously, Hiccup survived the initial strike, so did Toothless. The bad news was…

The artificial tail fin had caught fire.

It was just like the battle with the Red Death. The tail fin was on fire and smoke was trailing behind them. But something about Hiccup had changed. He felt as if there was something alive in his body. Then, all of a sudden, images of the battle with the Red Death flooded his mind. It was as if he was reliving the moment. It was very fresh… and very real. He could feel the pain and the horror he had experienced. He could feel the joy. And the moments of despair. That was when he lost consciousness. The Night Fury whined. He could not control his descent. And there was a very good chance that his rider was still on the saddle, so he could not cocoon himself with his wings. In desperation, he wringed his body violently, causing Hiccup to fall off the saddle. Toothless caught Hiccup by his artificial limb by clamping his pearly whites on it and then pulling him in and embracing his rider within his limbs, just like he did after the Red Death exploded beneath their tails. Toothless was starting to lose consciousness as he sped towards the ground. There was no controlling this dive. He closed his eyes, resigning to his fate. Yes, he may die when he makes contact with the solid ground. If he did die, he just wanted to make sure that his rider was safe. Because his rider had healed him. Had helped him regain the ability to fly.

Then, he hit the ground with a violent thud and there was silence.

* * *

The storm had cleared up a little as the evening approached. General Quintus gazed at the horizon, scanning the seas for any potential enemies. He was standing on an outcropping that overlooked the ocean. There was a hundred foot vertical dive to a shore of jagged rocks. The ocean waves crashed violently against them, shaking the ground the Roman was standing on. However, he wasn't here to enjoy the scenery. He was here on a mission. On a _spy_ mission to find out the truth about the Vikings and the dragons for himself. His magistrate friend had ordered him to do so, and so he did. So far, these ridiculous claims proved to be unfounded.

That is, until a few hours ago.

It was stormy. The rain was pelting relentlessly at the makeshift tent. To make matters worse, lightning flashed across the sky at totally random intervals, letting out a huge crack as they did so. He was in his own tent, decorated with nothing but a nice little hearth that radiated warmth throughout the entire tent. And the Roman general was there, enjoying his plate of freshly-cooked chicken when one of his scouts came running into his tent. The guy was soaked in mud from his shoes upwards and had a frantic look on his face. The general wondered what could have caused his scout to go into a frenzy like that.

_Probably a bear attacked has happened somewhere, hasn't it?_

What he heard from the mouth of the scout was just what he needed to kick start a new day. Especially on a rainy day that manages to dampen your spirit somehow. Not for the general though.

"_One of our scouts has spotted a bolt of lightning._" he said.

What? A scout comes running to me at the break of dawn just to say that he had seen a bolt of lightning? Who was he trying to kid? Did he ever see a bolt of lightning before? Quintus could not accept it. If this scout was going to pop in to his tent every now and then to announce that he had seen a bolt of lightning, then he was going to use his powers as a general to have that scout executed by sundown. Quintus stood up to his full height, making the scout cower in fear. No one messed with Quintus, the revered general. Because those who messed with him usually end up dead. And they don't die peacefully. The general gripped the scout by his neck and lifted him into the air. He may be an old man approaching his fifties, but that doesn't stop him from being strong. He stared at the scout with such intensity that it was a miracle that the scout did not burn up in flames.

"_You come into my hut just to tell me that you had seen a bolt of lightning?_" Quintus spat. The scout shivered, but still managed to form words, albeit stammering.

"_Yes… yes, sir. But there's more to that!_" the scout hurriedly regurgitated out that last five words in order to prevent Quintus from tightening his death grip around his neck. The general looked amused for a moment, then he settled the scout down on his feet. The scout had to feel his neck and gasp for air before he could continue speaking.

"_There was a panicked whine, as if it were coming from a dragon. Then we also spotted a trail of fire leading to that island._" the scout pointed in the direction of an island that was almost flat. It took a while for the general to process all the information. When he did, he stared the scout down with a serious look.

"_Bring me there._" he demanded. The scout whimpered and agreed to bring the general there.

Soon, they were headed for the island where the scout had speculated that that was where the dragon had landed. General Quintus rowed the two-men boat himself, his eyes scanning the landscape.

"_This better be good, scout. If not, off with your head._" the general stated grimly. The scout could tell that his superior was not kidding around with him. People died when they worked in the military ranks. That was an occupational hazard. Even more so if your superior was in a very grumpy mood and demanded entertainment.

They made landfall not very long after. Both of them began scouring the landscape for any signs of a fallen dragon. After two hours, things weren't looking good… at least for the poor scout who had delivered the news in the first place.

"_You are going to be in deep trouble._" Quintus said. The scout trembled violently, eyes darting frantically around to see if there were any signs of the dragon at all. Then, on the third scan, his eyes hit something.

"_There!_" he announced. The general turned his head around and saw that one of the conifers was broken. Split into half. There were scratch marks all around its base, as if something was trying frantically to claw its way out. A dragon no doubt.

"_You wait here._" the general announced to the scout. He was more than happy to comply, for he wished not to encounter a full-grown dragon and have to die because of that. No thanks. That was definitely not in the job description when he first applied for the post.

The general approached the badly damaged tree cautiously, with his sword unsheathed. That was the basic rule of thumb. Never approach a suspicious object without getting armed. That would be suicidal.

That was when he saw the mud track. It looked fresh. And there were some metallic debris along with the faint smell of burnt leather. Something was here. And it burned something else over here. Quintus climbed over the pile of mud, sword at the ready, and was met with a sight he had never seen before. He had only heard of these dragons. Only heard of how terrifying they were. Of how they were silent killers of the night. Quintus could not help but smile at his own victory.

"_We've struck gold_"

* * *

End of chapter 4.

So Quintus has finally caught up with Hiccup and Toothless :O

In the next chapter, we'll be visiting Berk... without Hiccup and Toothless, cause they are pretty much screwed. Off to Rome they go.

As always, read and review!


	5. Disaster Relief

**Disclaimer:** Wait... I own 'How To Train Your Dragon'! And Toothless too! Yes! This is too good to be... Oh, this is just a dream.

Whoa. It took me hours to type this out. Thank you all for reading and reviewing! So here's another chapter. Well, I hope you don't mind the lengthy paragraphs full of description. This chapter would deal with the measures taken by the people of Berk after the the rather violent storm. It had wreaked havoc on land. No Hiccup and Toothless in here though. So, if you don't mind not having that, I think that you would be able to put up with... _this._

Thank you** toothless-the-nightfury **for suggesting that Stoick dip his hammer in eel's blood as a precaution against Toothless... although the duo won't be returning to their homeland for a long period of time. A lot is going through Stoick's mind and the first half of this chapter would be dealing with that... well, at least 75% of the 50% of this chapter.

All right, enough rambling. Let's carry on with this.

* * *

**Chapter Five: Disaster Relief

* * *

**The sun's rays poked through the dark clouds like a beacon. The howling winds have long since subsided and the storm's fury was already over. The last flashes of lightning streaked across the sky before the dark clouds gave way and dissipated into nothing. It may have been over, however, the responsibility of clearing up the damage that has been inflicted by the tempest would be shouldered by the inhabitants of Berk… or what was left of the original population. Houses were reduced into splinters and bodies were strewn messily over the place. It was a ghastly sight, a sorrowful reminder that there are forces out there that are stronger than humans, or dragons for that matter. But no matter what happens, no disaster was able to crush the human spirit. Men and woman were scuttling around, trying to salvage the situation. The residents of Berk had shouldered incidents far worse than this, because they were always busying themselves with repairs after dragon raids. This was no exception. A huge red man stood on top of a raised platform that had been erected in the town center. He was barking out orders to the survivors of the storm.

"Come on! Move along!"

The Vikings got busy, running across the village and rendered their services wherever they were needed. There was still a heck lot of stuff to clear out and the people wasted no time in hauling the broken pieces of wooden furniture into the disposal area, which was a flat piece of land with no grass, only a ground of sand. After which, they would get the dragons to set the pile of splinters on fire and let it burn to the ground, burying the ashes that were left behind. The same procedure was carried out for the dead bodies, only that it was messier. The infirmary was, mercifully, spared from destruction. However, it was flooded with so much patients, namely the elderly and the young, that the operations came to a standstill. There were too many patients, and too little healers. Some of the victims perished within the first few hours after the disaster, while others were left moaning in pain. The village elder, Gothi, had come down personally to visit each and every one of the patients so as to console them, and to calm down their family members. Blessings and prayers were said, but that did not help much.

Meanwhile, the rescue operations going on in the main village were going very well. Within the last two hours, the Vikings have pulled out hundreds of survivors from the rubble, mostly women and the young. Even at this rate, the number of people that were missing would be in the hundreds by nightfall, and that wasn't a good sign. So far, they have pulled out more bodies than survivors and the critically injured were currently being treated for their injuries at the overflowing infirmary. The rain only made matters worse. The ground was soaked to its core, if it even had a core. The muddy environment was more of a hinderance. And constant mudslides came crashing down from the hills in the forest and beyond. Stoick the Vast was very worried that the mudslides might just come into the equation and screw up the entire rescue operation. So far they were contending with the situation quite well, and what they don't need is for another natural disaster to come wreaking their day.

But it did. And it came, unexpectedly.

Apparently the gods were yearning for some more before-dinner entertainment, because a massive mudslide had come and swept away part of the village, hampering further rescue efforts. Stoick was furious. How many more lives needed to be lost before they could recover from the already worsening situation.

It also did not help matters that Stoick the Vast was worrying about his son, who had been missing for the last seven hours. He could not imagine whatever bad stuff had befallen the small Viking boy. Had they been caught in the storm, and stranded on a nearby island, waiting for someone to rescue them? Or are they already dead, lost in the depths of the ocean or being shredded into pieces when they crash landed in a forest? Out of desperation, the village chief had sent a small search and rescue team out into the ocean, to search for a certain Night Fury that could have very well been killed in the storm. The tempest had decimated an entire village, so Stoick did not think that it would hesitate to blow up a dragon that just happened to stray into its path of destruction. Then, he would have to prepare a funeral procession for his son. And he really hoped that it would not have to come to that.

The proud and mighty chief gazed at the horizon, pondering about his son's fate. All he could do now is to wait for the terrifying truth to emerge. The chief was very sure that nothing good ever came with the truth. The wind picked up speed and whipped his long, braided beard. It rippled along with nature's element, shining as it reflected the sunlight. Outside, he may have looked calm, reserved, but inside, he was really trembling from fear of his son. He turned his back towards the sun and started a long and sorrowful trudge back to his house. He wanted to blame somebody for this. He wanted to have someone to point fingers at. And right now, the only "person" that was on his mind was Hiccup's dragon. Toothless. Stoick felt rage towards the dragon. He knew that the dragon would not be able to fly without Hiccup's assistance, so if the dragon was to blame, he son also had a share of the blame. But it felt so good to have someone to blame. The chief decided that if the dragon and human duo were to return, he'd be ready to take on the dragon. The Night Fury would have to sleep outside, no matter what. But how to achieve that?

Stoick remembered something that Hiccup had told him a long time ago. Something regarding the weakness of the various dragons. Each species had their own weaknesses, however, there were two weaknesses that were common among all the dragons. One was that sensitive spot under the chin. Provided if you could even reach the chin. Then what was the other one? Stoick racked his brains for the answer. Hiccup had said something about a slimy substance. Something called ell. Ell? No. That was not it. It was more like eeel or something. Oh, that's it, eel! A smile made itself known on the Viking chief's face. If the dragon was going to attack him, he'd throw an eel. No, even better, he'd dip his hammer in eel's blood and smear the door with the same substance, so as to keep that wretched devil out of the house if he were dirty. If only he'd known about the eels a long time ago, they would have come out victorious every dragon raid. Something as simple as that. Eel. All the unnecessary loss of life would have been prevented. For good. Heck, the entire war between humans and dragons seemed stupid as of now.

Stopping in his tracks, Stoick made a U-turn and headed for the harbor, with the intention of grabbing an eel. He wanted to make sure that the dragon wasn't going to make a nuisance out of himself, or the consequences would be dire, very dire indeed. He passed by several Vikings who were hauling a large piece of splintered timber, and on it were stains that were dark red in color. He did not have to go up close to find out what it was. He had seen enough of that substance after dragon raids. And speaking about dragons, they were fluttering in the sky, circling Berk in search of their masters. Some Nadders were squawking on the shore of Berk while some other dragons were flaming the collapsed houses, setting off a pretty nasty fire. The chief shook his head. This was the type of disaster he did not wish to encounter. First, the storm. Second, the mudslide. Third, the dragons setting stuff on fire. Then, after that, there would be a severe shortage of food for a long time. A perfect recipe for the wiping out of a tough and resilient race. And winter was just around the corner. What more could befall them before then? Another storm? And not to mention diseases.

Picking up a mass of slime from the basket, Stoick proceeded to pound the eel in order to extract the blood. Once he had done that, he dipped his stone mallet in the red substance. Yes, his hammer will stink, it will reek and will feel uncomfortable, but if that was all it took to drive away the unholy offspring of death, Stoick could not have been any happier to do that. He then placed his mallet into its original position and carried the bowl back to his house. No doubt that this was going to be messy, but they were Vikings, and they had seen many battles. Especially with the neighboring tribes. Anyways, this wasn't going to turn out good. At least for the dragon. He went up the slope and reached the doorstep of his house. It was a very sturdy house, the Haddock Residence. It had been built out of ebony and the support structures were designed by the best architects. It was, in many prospects, almost similar to the layout of the Meade Hall, making it very sturdy. It had only sustained a few scratches and a broken roof tile during the storm, but other than that, it remained largely unscathed. And its door was about to get drenched in a bowl of blood. Eel's blood.

Stoick swung the bowl upwards and its contents were sent flying, making contact with the ebony door and staining it red, not before it emitted several splattering noises. The residence was all set. In case of a rampant dirty lizard, at least his house would be spared of the biohazardous mess. No way. Stoick was sick of all the consistent contamination of his house. He wasn't going to waste hours of his precious time cleaning up the house. The Romans were a more pressing issue. And he had just heard the news this morning that one of his most treasured spy had been killed in Rome by an unknown assassin. Things were going to get hairy. If their spy had gotten killed, and his cover blown, a full-scale investigation would follow, and Stoick would be in deep trouble. At least with the Romans. And getting on the bad side of the Romans would prove to be a very bad idea. The Vikings only had an army of about a thousand strong. And after the storm the numbers would have decreased significantly. While on the other hand, the Romans had a hundred thousand strong, not to mention that they were a technologically superior race of people. The Vikings would get decimated. And they weren't prepared for an all-out war, because they were currently recovering from a natural disaster. He did not know what was more terrifying.

Just then, Gobber the Belch came up from behind Stoick and patted him on the shoulder, catching the chief's attention. Gobber was the village's head blacksmith for as long as any villager could remember. He was pretty plump and had lost two limbs already. Although that allowed for much more flexibility with his prosthetic arm but in the place of his leg was a wooden stump. He could not have been more than forty-five years old, and his blue eyes twinkled in the sunlight, showing some hint of wisdom beneath that dumb, stubborn attitude. His house had been ravaged by the storm and he was among the hundreds who were now homeless, all due to this perfect storm. As if things weren't about to get any worse for Stoick. His blacksmith friend was frowning, with a worried look plastered on his face. The chief knew at once that his friend wasn't going to bring any good news, but still asked him anyway.

"So, any sign of Hiccup and Toothless?" he enquired, failing to hide the fear within his tone. He braced himself for the worse as the blacksmith opened his mouth to deliver the truth. And the truth always hurt.

"No sign of him. Yet." the blacksmith announced. Stoick sighed. The sun had begun to set over the horizon, casting a orangey-red hue among the clouds. It was nearing night time and it would have been pointless to send another rescue team out into the ocean to search for the boy. He decided that they'd deal with the more pressing issues at hand, which involves concentrating all their efforts into rescuing those that could be rescued. The chief walked down to the town square and started shouting orders again. This was going to be a very long night. For the rescuers and the victims. If they were still alive.

"Hoist the torches! We need enough light!"

The orders were given and the Vikings responded almost immediately, lighting the braziers and pulling the lever in order to raise the brazier into the air. This time, however, they would not be dealing with a sky swarmed with dragons, but a ground swamped by mud, splinters, blood and bodies of humans and dragons alike. The sun disappeared underneath the horizon and left this part of the world in darkness. The moon made her appearance and gazed down majestically on Berk, surveying the damage from afar. At least she did not have to join in the backbreaking rescue efforts. If that was going to be of any consolation to the Vikings below.

More bodies were uncovered as the night progressed. As they did so, family members rushed in to take a look, to see if the body belonged to someone who was one of their own. If it wasn't they would heave a sigh of relief and scuttle back to the disaster relief shelters. If it was one of their kind, they would break down and start weeping. Bodies of dragons were also uncovered. Although less dragons died during the storm. The scene at the mortuary was even worse. That was where the dead were piled up. Family members would be kneeling down beside the bodies of their loved ones and weeping. It was a very sad scene. Stoick wasn't about to do the same. He hoped that he would never have to do such a thing.

The supply of livestock had taken a toll as well. Numbers of sheep had decreased significantly and they were running low on food. Now, the danger of famine was much worse than the storm itself. With an extra population of dragons, a mere number of a hundred sheep would not be enough to last them for a few months. They needed help. Desperately. And worse still, the number of people missing was on the rise. From the initial number of five hundred to seven hundred. By midnight, the number of people that were missing reached nine hundred. The death toll was on the rise as well, averaging at around four hundred at midnight. At least thirty dragons died and ten more were missing. Among the missing dragons was Toothless.

By one o'clock, the rescuers have pretty much covered up the entire area that was once the village of Berk. The official list of dead and missing was written out and pinned up on a notice board in the Meade Hall, and was prominently displayed to the public. The official death toll was four hundred and thirty-two for the humans, and twenty-eight for the dragons. Eight hundred and seventy-three people were missing, among which was Hiccup. And eleven dragons were officially missing.

Stoick scanned the list. Among all the names, his son's and his son's dragon names stood out the most. He still could not believe that they were missing. This wasn't a good sign at all. He desperately hoped that they would turn up in the dead of night and say, 'surprise!' or something similar to that. The livestock was also running low. Not good. Looks like the disaster had left a greater impact on them than they had realized. So much for being a tough and resilient race. Stoick approached his brother, Spitelout, and asked him for the damage assessment.

"How many buildings?"

"About seventy-five percent were destroyed during the storm. Two percent were destroyed by a rampant Nightmare that had set itself on fire." Spitelout stated. Now all that was left to do was to start the repairs and get it done before winter arrived. This was going to be a very tough winter indeed for the inhabitants of Berk, especially in times like these. It was even worse than a dragon raid.

The village chief nodded grimly and turned his attention back to the list of names. That was when he saw a teenage girl wielding her axe along with her dragon scanning the long list. She finally put her finger over the names '_Hiksti_' and '_Tannlaus_' that have been written on the parchment. And with that, a tear rolled down her cheek. They had been lost for over eleven hours since the storm started. Where did they go? One moment they were racing, the other moment, the Night Fury had soared into the clouds above that cliff and was never seen again. That was never a good sign. People disappearing into thin air was not something you'd see everyday. Then, a storm followed shortly after their disappearance. Something was not right. She felt a hand rest on her right shoulder and she turned around to face the chief, wiping away the tear that had rolled down her cheek. She was mad. Mad at nature and its cruelty. But she greeted his to-be-husband's father anyway.

"Stoick." she acknowledged rather sorrowfully. The chief could sense that Astrid was also missing Hiccup already. There wasn't so much a trace of happiness in the teenager's blue eyes. Stoick couldn't blame her. Their relationship was going so well, only to be wrecked by a natural disaster. That was the sad reality of life. The chief then remembered that Astrid was the last person Hiccup was with, and thus she would have a clearer idea of where Hiccup could have been before he mysteriously disappeared off the face of the world.

"Do you know where Hiccup could have went to? I remember seeing you with Hiccup before he disappeared." the Viking chief enquired. There was silence between the both of them for a while as Astrid continued looking at the floor. Then, she raised her head and stared directly into Stoick's eyes.

"I don't know where he is. We were racing. He sped up ahead and disappeared over the cliff. I did not see him since." she replied. It took a while for the Viking chief to process the information. So Hiccup had disappeared over the cliff? If he did, then there was a very good chance that he was already dead. And so was his dragon. No one would be able to survive a day due to the harsh conditions present on the top of the cliff. Even the village's fittest Vikings had perished on the cliff. Hiccup would be even more susceptible to the threats the natural environment posed.

Stoick patted her shoulder and assured her that Hiccup was going to be found no matter the circumstances, although he doubted that he would ever be found after that storm anyway. Astrid nodded her head and walked her dragon out of the hall, disappearing into the dark of the night, leaving the chief to ponder about the whereabouts of his son. His son was one thing, but the villagers would need to get themselves organized as of today. The village would require some repairs. _Major_ repairs. And it would be harder to carry out the repairs as they were short of people. Resuming his position at the end of the the huge table that contained a large hearth in the middle of it, he raised his right hand in an attempt to get the people to quiet down. When that failed, Gothi walked up to Stoick and faced the crowd, tapping her staff three times on the ground in another attempt.

"Everybody, quiet down!" Stoick boomed. It seemed to have done the trick, for thousands of heads in the Meade Hall diverted their attention to the huge, stocky, red-bearded man. Contented with that, the chief made his announcement which was, of course, about the calamity.

"We all know, that the tempest has claimed the lives of four hundred and sixty humans and dragons, and that many more are missing. Today, we gather here, in the hall, for one minute's silence, in remembrance of all those people and dragons who have lost their lives during the storm." he stated somberly. The Vikings all placed their hands together in front of them and put down their heads. A deathly silence settled over the place, with only the consistent rustling of the trees against the wind outside of the hall. Even the various dragons seemed to have joined in with their riders in this moment of silence. The atmosphere remained that way until the minute was up, during which the village elder tapped the floor of the hall three times, getting the attention of the masses. Stoick then continued with his speech.

"We all know that we have lost a lot of people and dragons during the storm. We have never had a death toll that high ever since The Hurricane. But, however violent the winds may be, it will never be able to blow away the very foundation of we Vikings. It will never crush our Viking spirit, for this is just another occupational hazard. In the morning, we will commence the funeral procession. The rescue mission is still ongoing, and we will try our best to find all those people who have went missing. Tonight, seeing that our houses have been destroyed, we'll all sleep in the Meade Hall. That is, until we get the build orders finished."

A murmur of approval passed through the crowd and Stoick dismissed them all, and the hall was soon filled with talking and weeping as they swarmed around the notice board. As the minute passed, Stoick grew more and more lonely. He was already missing his son, even though he was only missing for half a day. He sighed. As he thought back on how he had treated Hiccup back in the days when humans and dragons were enemies, he was filled with guilt and regret. He had never treated his son fairly. He had never treasured him, only let him live a life of self-depreciation, hatred and consistent bullying, from the other kids of course. What was that proverb? You wouldn't treasure something until you've lost it. Was that it? Because he was feeling that way right now, just as he had after Hiccup fell into the firestorm created by the exploding Red Death. He should have listened to his son, to have put his trust into his own flesh and blood. Instead he was too clouded by his own visions that he had disowned his own son… in order to lead his men into a suicide mission. It was a no-win situation. He had failed in his mission. He had failed to see the potential in his son. His _own_ son.

_The huge stocky Viking towered over the frail, weak one. Green eyes met green eyes. There was a definite tone of seriousness… at least only the big Viking had the "serious" mindset. He thought that the small one was just a nuisance that liked to cause mass havoc._

"_So, you been to the nest?" he spat with disdain. The frail-looking one was intimidated and looked as if he wanted to speed out of the Meade hall that instance. He wasn't used to his father being angry, and especially if he had the intention to kill._

"_Di… did I say nest?" he stammered, although he lost the will to articulate the last word of his sentence. The huge, stocky Viking disregarded that statement and directed another question at Hiccup._

"_How did you find it?" he enquired. After centuries of finding the elusive Dragon's Nest, it had been found by… this? A pathetic good-for-nothing? It did not make sense. And he wanted so desperately to find out the answer. How did his son find it? Could all the loss of lives been adverted if Stoick had asked his son earlier on?_

"_No, er, I didn't… er, Toothless did. Only a… a dragon could find the nest." like before, his voice trailed off at the end of the sentence. A million thoughts were racing through Stoick's mind. He may be a stubborn meathead, but that did not mean that he did not have the powers of logical reasoning. It did not take long for the Viking chief to put two and two together._

_So, you have been riding on the back of the Night Fury all the while?_

_Hiccup was a traitor. He had harbored and protected a dragon. That was against the Viking law. He was no less than a criminal, punishable by exile. Yes, that was it. Rage surged through Stoick. After all he had done for his son, he had betrayed them. He wasn't a Viking. He will never be a Viking. The small boy tried to do some damage control._

"_Oh no, dad. Its not what you think it is…" he began. Stoick the Vast grunted and pushed his son away, making his way to the harbor. He was going to end this war once and for all. No matter how it ends, it will end today. And this boy will not be stopping him._

"… _you don't know what you're up against, dad. Its like nothing you've ever seen."_

_Pah! Throughout his entire career as a Viking, he had seen every species of dragon that ever existed on this world. This mission was no different. What could be more dangerous than a Night Fury? And they had a chained-up one that was going to lead them straight to the den. After that, he could dispose of the damned beast._

"_No, dad." the boy started to run in order to keep up with his father. No. This could not be happening. The Viking chief trudged on, picking up speed._

"_No!"_

_Out of desperation, the Viking boy grabbed onto his father's arm and exhaled, "For once in your life, would you please just listen to me!"_

_To his surprise, his sire flung him onto the floor like some toy. It took him awhile to regain his bearings. When he did, he looked into the eyes of the person he once looked up to. The very person who had given him a horned helm of his mother to him yesterday. It seemed like a million years ago. For the look in Stoick's eyes were not that of love, but of hatred and coldness. The words that came out of his mouth were in an emotionless tone. A tone he only reserved for dragons that were about to get beheaded._

"_You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not a Viking."_

_Hiccup did not mind if he were exiled or anything. He just wanted someone to love him. To share his experiences with. Most of all, he wanted a father. A real father. The person who was standing right in front of him._

_However, what his father said next hurt him as if someone had run a sword through him._

"_You're not my son"_

_With that, the Viking left the hall, slamming the door behind him, abandoning his only son in the dark. Hiccup was bleeding from his various wounds. He crawled along the floor, reaching his hand in the direction of the door. His entire body hurt. However, none could have compared to the hurt he was currently experiencing in his heart._

_Emotional pain._

"Stoick, ya all righ'?"

Said Viking was immediately shaken out of his reverie. Looking around, his eyes met a huge hammer that was connected to a fleshy arm. Gobber the Belch was standing next to the village chief. He put a hand on his friend's shoulder and patted it.

"Thinkin' about Hiccup, eh?" he asked.

Of course he was thinking about his son. Who else? Odin? Sighing, he said, "Yes." There was an odd pause for a moment. "Still no sign of him?"

Gobber remained silent. When Stoick pressed him again for the answer, he answered somberly, "No. The search party 'ave searched the islands around Berk. They are empty."

Stoick went silent for the rest of the night and Gobber left the hall after giving his best friend a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. The rescue operations continued well into the night until daybreak, where three more survivors were pulled out of the rubble and fifty more bodies were uncovered, adding to the list of the dead. It was a grim and gruesome sight at the mortuary, and the village chief had an uneasy feeling that he would be amongst the people who were mourning very soon.

* * *

The morning arrived quickly, bringing the start of a new day along with it. However, it would not be a good day for the Vikings. They were still recovering from the damage sustained from the tempest. Once they had been done with the rescue operations, the rebuilding operations began. The new day was a signal for the workers who were currently hauling in the heavy timbers that have been imported into the village, fresh from the forest. There was still a mountain-load of work to be finished with and they did not even sleep a wink.

Things were worse at the infirmary. Ever since the recent mudslide, people have been dying of some strange disease, and the water from a nearby stream tasted as if it were contaminated. Soon, it was over-flooded with cases of bloody diarrhea and vomiting. The disease continued on its rampage, claiming the lives of fifty more people and incapacitating dozens more. The victims of the disease said that the water that they drunk tasted horrible and stung their mouth. Puzzled, the chief matron of the infirmary had to switch water supplies in order to prevent this from happening again; but it seemed like every river that had its sources traced back to the mountain tasted the same, and they also stung. In the end, the matron was forced to get their water from the ocean, utilizing the method of distillation to get rid of the salt. The water tasted better, but that did not stop the disease from claiming more lives. By the end of the day, the disease had killed a hundred people; the bodies of all of which were placed in the mortuary as new additions.

More homeless dragons emerged. A Stray Division was created to deal with the situation, normally attempting to set the dragons free. Most were unwilling to leave and stayed with their dead owners, and the mortuary therefore became a house for the homeless dragons.

Another day went by and the situation seemed to have alleviated. However, it has gotten the attention of the locals that the plants that were found next to the complex river systems on Berk had yellowed and animals which have drank from the rivers have died. That was particularly puzzling. Berk had never had a full-scale biological contamination of the river system before and the medics had little knowledge of dealing with these type of situations. In the meantime, more and more survivors were migrating to the nearby islands in search of a better place to live, at least until the time came when the damage from the disaster has been dealt with. That action made Berk less crowded than usual; but they did not mind. The less people, the better because they were currently making repairs and less people meant less obstruction. Gothi the village elder insisted to remain on Berk despite the danger of contracting The Disease, as the ex-locals have named it.

The remaining Vikings on the island decided to hold a council deciding on the fate of Berk. The Viking's dragons were positioned beside their masters, crooning ocassionally. At one point of the council, a Gronckle snarled so loudly and consistently that he had to be put outside of the hall.

Spitelout declared that they should follow the other locals and flee to the other islands until the biological situation got better. Stoick decided against it and said that they should deal with the problem with all their might. Several people of the council supported Stoick, several others went for Spitelout's plan, the rest remained as indecisive as ever. They could not bear to leave Berk and they did not want to die of this disease either. After a moment of arguing, it was decided that they should stay and deal with the situation. It had its benefits and its own risks.

"But how?" asked Spitelout. "It seems to me that this is impossible to solve."

A few Vikings nodded in agreement at that statement. The problem was indeed impossible to solve. Even Stoick had his thinking cap on. Gothi, who was usually silent, tapped her staff on the floor and garnered the attention of the council. The Vikings of Berk had looked up to her due to her immense wisdom. She was silent for most of the time and rarely spoke. Unless it was really important.

"My fellow friends…" she began with a voice that had a tone of mystery. "It seems that the problem at hand is impossible to tackle. I understand that. Even after praying for a long time, the issue with the rivers have not yet been solved."

Stoick, who was listening with rapt attention, broke the silence by asking, "Do you have a solution to this?"

Gothi the Silent One remained silent. Then she said, "If you can tackle the source of the problem, everything will correct themselves eventually."

There was a long silence after that statement as the various members of the Disaster Council considered what Gothi had just said. It did not make any sense to them. How can they tackle the source of the problem without even knowing what the source is? Gobber spoke up first.

"What de yeh mean by tha', elder?"

Everyone moved closer to the elder in their eagerness to hear the answer. They were very confused.

"What I mean is that you must find the source of the problem, then tackle it." was Gothi's simple reply. It, however, wasn't making any sense either. Why can't she just speak in an understandable manner. The village chief, who had been taking in every word the elder had just said, was in deep thought. The gears in his head were turning. Then, the true meaning of the elder's answer struck him.

"You mean to say that we should send some men up to the source of the river and check it out?"

Gothi nodded her head and a tone of uneasiness settled over the Vikings in the Meade Hall. They weren't keen on going upstream towards the source of the river. If the water was enough to kill, they couldn't think of the consequences that would befall them should they approach the possible source of the disease. It was like the meeting they had before the last dragon nest expedition; only that this time much lesser people would be going. Stoick stood up.

"I'm going along on this trek. Now who's with me?" he declared. No one answered. There wasn't going to be another good excuse. The chief sighed.

"Fine. If none of you are going, then I'm going. Alone. Council dismissed." he announced before heading for the huge wooden doors. Just before he stepped out of the hall, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was just Gobber. He had a smile on his face.

"I'm going with yeh. Just in case your thinkin' of doin' something crazy."

That was _so _Gobber.

* * *

"Is that it?" quipped the blacksmith three hours later somewhere deep in the forest. They had arrived in a rather less treaded on road that led off Raven Point. They were standing right in front of a thirty meter cliff that had slopes angled at ninety degrees to the ground. One part had collapsed, making this the obvious cause of the mudslide that had ravaged the part of the village nearest to Raven Point. It was several kilometers from where Hiccup proposed to have found Toothless and nearly five hundred meters away from the village. A torrent should have run under the cliff, but was now reduced to a shallow stream of water now. Behind the blockage of rocks was a pool of water, and beyond that was a hill where this section of the river broke off from the much larger one.

But what was most amusing about the cliff was that it was stained crimson red. And so was the water.

"That explains the redness of the water at the infirmary." Stoick pondered aloud. "But that does not explain why the people died."

"Could it be poison?" suggested Gobber.

"Look like poison. But if it were poison, then it would be a natural one. I've never seen a man-made poison of this color before."

Gobber reached out his artificial limb and gave the red substance on the mud a prod. Nothing happened. Except for the fact that the substance fell apart and dissolved into the wet mud. That was peculiar.

"What do yeh think it could be?"

"Nothing I've ever seen before."

Then Stoick said, "If this is the source of the disease, then I suggest that we cordon of the entire section of the river to prevent further leakage. I'll leave the job to you, Gobber. Take some men with you and get it done by next week."

The blacksmith nodded his head.

* * *

"Get movin'!"

The shout rang out eerily through the dark forest. It was already nightfall and the various sounds of the forest at night could be heard. The moon shone with white brilliance and it hurt just to take a look at it. At that shouted command, the dull thudding of leather boots was heard and in an instant, four men carrying sticks and boulders materialized out of thin air, as if they were just there. They lugged their heavy load with little problem. The men were flanked by two other men who wielded torches that were lit, bathing the forest floor with the soft amber glow, providing ample light that allowed for the other men to carry out their duties. The torches were also a precaution against the animals of the wild, although the men had swords for that purpose. They ran forwards, in the general direction of the cliff that was the source of the problem. When they arrived there, they were joined by ten other men who were standing guard by the crimson-red section. The men planted their torches alongside the other torches on the ground. A huge wooden and stone barrier had been erected to close off the area, and it was nearing completion. The man in charge was Gobber, and he stood by a tree, supervising the entire event.

"You there, put the log down."

Said Viking placed the piece of timber that he had been carrying and went off to help the others. Once all the materials were placed at the designated area, it was now time for another group of Vikings to do the building of the final part of the barrier: the part which seals off the river's flow to the other parts of the river system. The reason it had been done last was that the Vikings feared that if they had blocked it earlier on, the water would have gotten stuck and the entire place would flood, hampering further construction efforts.

The Vikings worked relentlessly, carefully laying the boulders into place and putting the logs over them, essentially creating one gigantic dam just like the beavers. The shape and construction method was derived from watching the beavers building their own water dam, although most have died during the course of the contamination. Once this dam was done, they hoped that further contamination would halt and the remaining contaminants would be washed into the ocean, diluting it into a harmless solution.

That was just a plan though. It was still to be finished.

"By tonigh', we'll get this done."

Just as a Viking was carrying a boulder with the intention of placing it over a hole in the barrier, he accidentally knocked a torch to its side. It rolled down the river bank and gained momentum, headed for the heavily polluted river. The Viking thought nothing about that. He just thought that the river would extinguish the fire.

He was so wrong.

The torch rolled into the river with a soft plop. But, instead of the water evaporating around the fire and the fire going out, it burned as steadily as before, if not, much more ferociously. Curious, the Viking stopped in his tracks and looked at the torch. For one moment, it seemed as if the entire stretch of red water was glowing.

Then, it happened.

It started as a spark in the water surrounding the fire. A bright spark. Then, the red water caught fire simultaneously, going up in bright white flames. There was a loud crack as the flames consumed the entire stretch of water, hissing and emitting sparks with such violence that was not possible for any normal fire. The river bank began to smoke. Terrified, the Viking dropped the boulder and ran for the exit. By now, it had gotten so hot that the wooden barrier was starting to burn.

Gobber had also noticed the fire. The barrier was glowing with such intensity that he had to order his men to fall back just as several Vikings came running out from the barrier exit.

"What happened?"

The Viking was too frightened to reply. Actually, it was better that he did not reply at all, for the next moment came an explosion that was sure to drown out anybody's voice.

BANG!

The barrier exploded from within. A shockwave emanated from the point of the explosion and flattened the forest, knocking Gobber and the other Vikings over in the process. Parts of the barrier were blown out, hitting some unlucky Vikings. The heat was unbearable, and it scorched the surrounding forest. The fire roared, releasing tons of thick black smoke. As Gobber began to lose consciousness, bleeding from the multiple cuts on his head, the cliff exploded, showering them with boulders of all shapes and sizes. The ground shook from the sheer violence of it all. The last thought Gobber had was:

_What the hell just happened?_

And then he passed out, unaware that another person was standing by a tree from a hill not too far from the explosion. He could see the angry tongues of flame licking at the cliff in pure fury. The roar was comparable to that of a lion. A smile crept across his face and he started to write down something on a piece of paper. His charcoal stick made a black imprint against the brown parchment. There was a scratching sound as the tip of the stick rubbed against the rough paper. When he was done, he rolled up the paper and took out a messenger pigeon from under his clothe. Tying it to the pigeon's leg, he said to it.

"_Romam volare._"

The bird consented and it spread its wings, fluttering into the air. It did not take long for the avian to disappear into the dark of the night. The fire continued to rage on for hours on end until the sun came up. The mysterious man had long since vanished when the Vikings came to find that the barrier had been incinerated, along with an entire section of the cliff.

On the piece of paper was:

_Sed quantum._

It is here.

* * *

End of Chapter 5

Confused? Not sure where this is heading? Don't panic. A lot will be revealed in later chapters towards the end of the story. There will be a chapter deep in the middle of the story that will reveal more about this mysterious red... substance. Also, the mysterious man will prove to be consequential to the Romans because he is working for... shhh! This is classified Roman stuff. I can't reveal it!

Well, I hope that I did not screw up the latin translations.

Thank you all for putting up with this chapter and reading it! Reviews are sincerely appreciated!


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